Obama Campaign Arm Targets Critical Dems And GOP In Late Health Care Push

Barack Obama's campaign arm is going after Republican and Democratic Senators alike in a major new health care reform advertising campaign that could last for the remainder of the month.

Organizing for America's 30-second spot, titled "It's Time," was formally made public to reporters including the Huffington Post in early July. Now the details of the ad, which frames the need for health care reform around personal stories of struggle, have officially been released. And they're impressive.

OFA will be running the ad on national cable, the District of Columbia, local stations in Arkansas, Indiana, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, North Dakota, Nebraska and Ohio, and major online news sites. While no financial figure for the purchase was offered, an official with the group said the spot will be airing for the next two weeks -- roughly to the point when the Senate Finance Committee is hoping to finalize its version of health care legislation.

From the details it is easy to infer just which Senate votes the White House and, by extension, leadership in the Democratic Party see as most critical to health care's passage. No Senators are named in the ad. But the spot is airing in the home states of critical moderates - Senators Ben Nelson, D-NE, Olympia Snowe, R-ME, Susan Collins, R-ME, Mary Landrieu, D-LA, and Blanche Lincoln, D-AR - as well as recalcitrant Democrats - Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. - and retiring Republicans - Senators Mel Martinez, R-FL, and George Voinovich, R-OH.

"Millions of Americans lose their health insurance when they lose their job, are denied care because of a pre-existing condition, and delay care or skip medication because they can't afford it," said OFA Executive Director Mitch Stewart in a statement trumpeting the ad's release. "Skyrocketing health care costs are hurting American families and straining already-strapped budgets for businesses and governments. It's time to reform our health care system to lower costs, preserve patient choice and ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable care."

OFA itself has tried to influence the health care debate through the collective power of its 13 million members. The organization, which is left over from the Obama presidential campaign and operates in basic coordination with the Democratic National Committee, has hosted house parties on the need for reform. It has also sponsored online town halls for its members and launched a website aimed at allowing individuals to share their personal stories of medical struggle.

Through it all, an OFA official says, the broader goal remains to make common citizens the face and voice of the need to systematically overhaul the health care system. The ads, which come as two major Senate committees (Finance and HELP) are finalizing work on respective outlines for health care legislation, are the latest and most aggressive steps in that process.

Comments

[Firbolg]

I’m getting irritated by repetition of “keeping the insurance companies honest.”
It means nothing. Insurance companies are no more or less honest than other businesses and are entitled to try to maximise profits and net worth.
What is needed is to get insurance companies out of healthcare and keep congress and the administration honest.
When are we going to see a bill that does that, I wonder.

[lazercat2008]

Making money off sick people is sick.

[hark]

Never. Forget it. Don't let the impossible become the enemy of the possible. Get behind something, or get nothing at all.

[Firbolg]

My question was rhetorical as you probably guessed.
I would prefer to continue with the existing system than go for the bill on offer.
It’s not like we have to come up with a better system. Countless examples already exist.
Have the free and the brave become the wimp and the slave?
We can do better than this. I know we can.

[lazercat2008]

If everybody has health insurance, I will have to wait longer for my eleventh Cat Scan.

[wdw505]

i don't care what procedure i am waiting for......i should not have to wait behind the indigent and lazy......­...

[WorkingClass]

Just get in line and shut up WD40.

[CanisLatrans]

That's right! People who've been laid off should be left to die in the street like the dogs that they are! And damn them for their will to live!

[prisoner24601]

then get yourself a private plan, most industrialize country that have public plans also have private plans. In fact, most people carry both, to get the extra perks.

Plus in addition to the lazy you should also put the unlucky. i.e. all these hardworking people that are denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions, those people that have seen their coverage removed by insurance companies because they dare make a claim and the insurance company has put their team of lawyers on their case to make them loose coverage.

Not that I wish you bad luck, but even people in the upper middle class has gone bankrupt because of a bad luck that has cause them to fall sick and loosing their fight against the insurance company. So unless you are very wealthy, good luck.

[hark]

And you will decide who is indigent and lazy?

Any other personal traits and characteristics you'd like to heave back to the end of the line? Fat people? People who drink? People who don't go to church? Foreign born? Liberals?

[rfshunt]

Then hurry up and get sick first.

[kimleehan]

If everyone has the same healthcare than how is Republicans going to be able to jump in front of the line, and they may have to share a room with a Democrat or even worse.

[wdw505]

so you are attempting to lower my care......­...as i don't share a hospital room now when a hospital room is needed....­.....anyth­ing else is changing my coverage

[LemonMeringue]

Dennis Kucinich is working for single payer. Please let him know you agree.

kucinich.uscinich.us

----------­----------­----------

Dear Friends,

In mid-May, in an effort to reach consensus, President Obama secured a deal with the health insurance companies to trim 1.5% of their costs each year for ten years saving a total of $2 trillion dollars, which would be reprogrammed into healthcare. Just two days after the announcement at the White House the insurance companies reneged on the deal which was designed to protect and increase their revenue at least 35%

The insurance companies reneged on the deal because they refuse any restraint on increasing premiums, copays and deductibles - core to their profits. No wonder a recent USA Today poll found that only four percent of Americans trust insurance companies. This is within the margin of error, which means it is possible that NO ONE TRUSTS insurance companies.

Then why does Congress trust the insurance companies? Yesterday HR 3200 "America's Affordable Health Choices Act," a 1000 page bill was delivered to members. The title of the bill raises a question: "Affordable" for whom?.
.

Hundreds of local labor unions, thousands of physicians and millions of Americans are standing behind us. With a draft of HR3200 now circulating, It is up to each and every one of us to organize and rally for the cause of single-payer healthcare. Change the debate. Now is the time.

The time to act is now!

Sincerely Yours,
Dennis

[lazercat2008]

Dennis is right this bill is a boondoggle to the Health Care Industry. It's unworkable. Another bad idea from the people who only worry about the bottom line and not the country.

[blimie]

Dennis K. is truthful. If people want a decent plan, not something that is profitable for insurance companies, then let your representative know now. Otherwise we will have another 1000 page document crammed down our throat.

[Coinyer101]

He's right. I so wish I had supported him for President.

[hark]

Dennis is living in Wonderland.

If you want reform, back what Congress is putting out.

If you don't, back single-payer.

It's that simple.

[cmmt08]

Most people that are against Health Care reform are either employed by a company that can provide them with a good health care coverage or they are the super rich that don't concern themselves with the rising insurance premiums

I know friends of mine who used to be against health care reform until they lost their jobs, and now find themselves without coverage. You should hear them singing a different tone now.

The bottom line it is immoral to live in a country, especially a country as wealthy as this one, where a trip to the hospital can mean bankruptcy even you work hard and pay taxes like everyone else.

I am speaking from experience: my wife an I used to be a childless couple with a low six-figure income, and I being the biggest earner. Needless to say with no children, our tax bracket was very high.

Over 5 years ago I lost my job in my professional field. So my wife and I have opened up a small home business that can barely keep us afloat, therefore, not enough to pay for heath care insurance for us, let alone our employees.
It is insane to think we try to live our lives according the common narratives: work hard and believe in the American Dream. Yet despite of all that, we are preying that neither one of us gets seriously sick for that could mean the end of that dream for us.

[lazercat2008]

You forgot the huddled uneducated masses yearning for Rush to tell them what to think.

[Chaimirija]

21 minutes ago:

"The Senate health committee cast a milestone vote Wednesday to approve legislation expanding insurance coverage to nearly all Americans, ...

The 13-10 party line vote advanced a $600 billion measure that would require individuals to get health insurance ...

[Douglas1966]

My email to Senator Conrad:

You aren't my Senator, but you do seem to be slowing down unnecessarily the Health Care Bill in Congress by trying to win Republican support -- an unlikely prospect -- and watering down or destroying the public option.

My parents and I are life-long Democrats. All I have to say is that if, because of you, health care reform is not passed promptly with a public option, despite all my contributions to the Democratic Party over the years, I will do everything in my power to help assure that you are never elected again. I will give money to your opponent in the Democratic primary, and as much as it hurts me, I will even give money to your Republican opponent.

Yes, I am not from North Dakota, but you are ruining the possibilities yet again for national health insurance, something Democrats have fought for since the Truman Administration. You are undermining this possibility for the entire country. In contrast, the House has passed a bill that covers 97% of all Americans.

t's time to start worrying more about the uninsured, those who may end up dying or going bankrupt because of their lack of medical insurance, and less about "bipartisanship" and pet ideas like regional health-care exchanges. If you have to shove the bill through the Senate using the reconciliation process, so be it. The health and well-being of real people is more important than Senate niceties or, frankly, even your political career.

[k1k2lee]

Nicely said. Now send a fax, too. And send one to Blanche Lincoln as well. She's currently looking for money. I recently got an email from the Wesley Clark PAC asking me to contribute to her. I sent her (and Clark) a very strongly worded NO, due to her position on health reform. These Senators need to learn there are very real consequences for their votes and we ARE paying attention.

[grandma58]

SIngle Payer, same as Max Baucus, no more no less.

[Avanti2]

Baucus selects from a menu of available Private Insurance Plans that have enrolled into the Federal Health Supplier Program. Premiums for the Plan he selects are deducted from his pay check just like income taxes are deducted. The Federal Administrator of the Program pays the bills.

This is Single Payer. Insurance is involved. Premium's are involved. There is no free lunch.

[wdw505]

i don't want the offices of the doctors i visit to be crowded...­.....much less crowded with the indigent and lazy

[Tazru]

"Not-Joe The Not-Plumber" izzat you?

[Chaimirija]

famous last words

[LemonMeringue]

Doctors offices are already crowded. Haven't you noticed? They can't remember you from one visit to another because you are just an insurance policy to them. They don't read your chart before they enter the room; you have to remind them of everything. Because if they took 5 minutes to do that, they could only schedule 3 patients an hour instead of 4.

The number of doctors is kept deliberately low so they can keep prices up and demand up. There is no competition when their services are scarce.

Medical schools limit the number they admit for a reason.

[wdw505]

i get in normally on the day i call......­no crowd as most of my doctors do not accept medicaid or medicare..­.....i like it that way.......

[WorkingClass]

Yo. WD40. The indigent and lazy might just get up enough gumption to throw you out to the office.

[wdw505]

throw me out to the office wow very scary. since i would be in the office already not much of a throw.....­..in addition the lazy are too lazy to expend that energy

laughing

thanks for playing

[TheHandyman]

I'll bet a thousand dollars that you are a Christian, aren't you? Just what do you think Jesus would say about your attitude? I'll bet another thousand it wouldn't be good!

[wdw505]

pay up.......a­s i am not religious at all

[nancy50]

I listened, so you didn't have to...I heard on the Laura Ingraham show today, that the new angle to criticize health care reform is to bring up the Indian Health Service - the "socialized" health system for American Indians living on reservations. One caller stated the system is horrible with denial of care and long waiting periods. Laura was ecstatic - "see this is what I'm talking about - the Dems will have us using a system as bad as this." What Laura neglected to tell the listeners and what a simple google search told me when I got out of the car -- the Indian Health Service is underfunded - thanks to George W. Bush cutting the budget.

[wdw505]

so you want your health care coverage to ebb and flow as the politics change....­.no thanks

[Firbolg]

Right.
Much better that it ebbs and flows as your employment and/or health changes.

[nancy50]

What I want is a not -for-profit health care system. I don't know what kind of health insurance plan you have, but the one I have has seen nothing rate increases for less services and there is nothing I can do about it. The big insurance companies are calling all the shots in this country and I would like to see that end.

[pvernier]

Same tactics as ever. Why don't they compare the proposed health care reform to that which all politicians get. I'll take that any time.

Maybe it's time for Senator Boehner to get in for a cancer screen. You can't maintain a tan that brown without some risk of cancer. Or, maybe stop off at the local reservation. I know, Boehner wasn't in this article. But, the guy drives me nuts.

[LemonMeringue]

Of course it is horrible. We treat Native Americans like dirt and always have.

Ever drive onto a reservation and see where they live? You would weep, if you have a soul.

[CanisLatrans]

Yes, because the way we've treated the Native Americans is exemplary of the way everyone should and would be treated.

[Avanti2]

I have family farm land near Chamberlain, South Dakota which is next to large Lakota Sioux Reservations. Ever since I can remember, the Indian Health Service has been underfunded. I'm 66 yrs old so the system has been underfunded for at least the last 56 years. Whether a Democrat or Republican was President or whether the Democrats or Repub's controlled Congress has made no difference.

To blame this on Bush is not truthful.

[Avanti2]

Why was Tort Reform left out of this Health Care Bill? Where is the cost control on Doctor Malpractice Insurance Premiums which now average $250,000 per year per Doctor?

[Chaimirija]

where are you getting your info? it is only 25K for an anesthesio­ligist....­for example

[jozzie]

Rediculous. Most doctors don't make that much.

[Chaimirija]

could it be the insurance comanies are reaming the doctors too?

[TheHandyman]

Maybe that is why some 82% of all doctors want single payer?

[JNarragansett]

How about a campaign to target all politicians and force them to actually read the bills that they are going to make into law? Is it really too much to ask for enough time for people to actually read through what is going to be imposed on us as a populace? Haven't we learned enough from TARP, the bailout, the invasion of Iraq, and even things like the gulf of Tonkin resolution just to name a few. Regardless of which way anyone votes on this subject, they should be ashamed of themselves if they did so without actually reading the bill for themselves.

[Avanti2]

Isn't that just like the far Left Wingers, let the Carl Marx leaning Lliberals Eat there Young!

[cvwilson]

Hey, Sparkey, I do not know who Carl Marx is, but Karl Marx, while getting a lot wrong when it came to his political solutions, was spot on when it came to his critique of the predations of large aggregations of capital (ie. corporations).

[Tazru]

Here we have the Poster Child for Funding and rehabilitating our School Systems in America.

No more faith-based Education.

[blaze]

Yeah... supplying health care that isn't enslaved to the financial vagaries of insurance companies is the official definition of "eating our young". Taking the profit motive away from healthcare is a sure sign that we are "eating our young".
Why would you prefer a system that provides 400 billion in profits to the middle man? Can you possibly think of something better to do with that 400 billion? Like provide healthcare?

[CanisLatrans]

Your system is much better-- let the insurance companies eat all of us.

You are a corporate footstool.

[OkieMon]

does anybody doubt we live in a corporate fas*cist state? even our hero obama can't budge the health corporatio­ns....obam­a would rather increase taxes on working people by counting their health benefits as income rather than removing the t*t sucking health corporations from the equation..­..who by the way skim almost 40 cents off the top of every health dollar spent in this country...­.if we can't reclaim our country now then when? and with whom leading us?

[jazzman]

Give Obama time. He's going to pull this off.

Here is what we have going for us. Democrats in Congress have to know that if they can't deliver a robust health care reform bill that actually reforms health care they are toast in the next election. No amount of lobbyist money in their coffers can save them. When they realize that fact they may be able to make a decision to do health care to save themselves from the Republicans storming back into power like they did in 1993.

Conversely, if the Democrats deliver on health care no amount of lobbyist money given to their opponents will defeat them. All that has to happen is for the Congress to wake up to the reality of their situation and then they'll vote their self-interest.

[OkieMon]

toast in the next election? are you seriously going to start voting for the GOP???

[quidam56]

As a former health care giver, I am shocked and saddened to see what has become of health care in America. $ 1. 4 million is being spent per day in DC by the health care lobbyists so your elected representative is getting taken care of and has quality health care we pay for and can't afford ourselves for our families, I know what is deemed, defended and supported in Tennessee and Virginia as quality health care and clearly profit care comes ahead of patient care. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62 MRSA ( methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureas ) is infesting our communities because filthy, uncaring hospitals and emergency rooms are breeding them and spreading them into our schools, homes, restaurants. How many more Americans' will be diseased or die while 74 % of Americans' are begging for health care reform ? More people died in America last year from MRSA complications than AIDS. When MRSA and a flu bug start mixing, it won't be pretty and we are being infected by the very health care system we depend on and trust to keep us safe and healthy.

[jazzman]

It's very sad.

[Chaimirija]

what did you do in health care?

[Avanti2]

MRSA can be acquired through any open sore. The bug is found in the general environment. (Walking on you grass or any dirt in bare feet exposes you to MRSA).

People with good immune systems usually can fight off the bug. Older folks with diminished immune systems have difficulty. There is only one drug, that has to be administered via IV under close supervision, over several weeks time, that is effective in treating MRSA. On top of that, this drug is very expensive, right around $130 per day for the cost of the drug, IV equipment, and twice daily blood tests (to determine the level of the drug in the blood system).

Close environments like hospitals or nursing homes, which have folks in close proximity with compromised immune systems, is the ideal environment for MRSA to spread.

MRSA patients are put into isolation and extra measures are employed by the medical staff to keep the bug contained.

MRSA levels are the same for public and private Hospitals. Government Run VA Hospitals have a higher rate of MRSA due to the advanced age of there patients.

To say or imply that Government Run Health Care will decrease the MRSA problem is not factual or realistic.