Protect Insurance Companies PSA: Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm Speak Out Against The Public Option (VIDEO)

In a satiric video from Funny or Die, Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, and other celebs band together to "protect" insurance company profits from the evils of health care reform.

"People are saying a lot of mean things about health insurance companies and their executives and it's gotta stop," pleads Thomas Lennon.

"These great business men are American heroes," says Linda Cardellini.

"So why is Obama trying to reform health care when insurance companies are doing just fine making billions of dollars in profit?" Will Ferrell asks.

Funny or Die has history of using celebrities and humor to take a stance on political issues. Last year they released "Prop 8: The Musical" starring Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, Margaret Cho, and more satirizing the push for a ban on gay marriage in California.

This "Insurance PSA," paid for by and produced with MoveOn.org, ends with a call to action, asking people to call their congressmen and tell them we need a strong public option.


WATCH:

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

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Comments

[jmilenthal]

09:52 AM on 11/11/2009

This video is hilarious. Did anyone see this response from a health insurance company?

http://ourhealthcaresource.com/2009/10/02/paying-for-the-sins-of-others/

Nice retort!

[okila]

01:15 AM on 10/04/2009

This is my vies. Put it upto a vote for the people. Provide the same bill but remove the option that says you would be fined if you dont get insurance. And at the end of the vote let the American people speak. And still if you dont want the public option, you sign a waiver saying you decline The Public option and you will pursue private insurance. And then when youre old and dying / get a disease, you can look in the mirror and see the j@ck @ss who kille dthemselves. Problem solved. Everyone decided what they wanted and you can blame anyone else.

[KS Brea]

11:45 PM on 10/03/2009

This summed it up for me:


http://ks--brea--ca.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/25/3317900-dear-will-ferrell-why-are-you-bashing-the-american-dream

[Sheila Plank]

11:19 AM on 10/02/2009

What I find offensive is the condescending tone, the assumption that liberals don't think for themselves, and the hints that anyone who's for a public option is against personal responsibility. These cliches and stereotypes may have worked 10 years ago, but they don't fly anymore. The American people are fed up with being duped and bullied by the big corporate interests that benefit most from the current system.

[Sara Sue]

05:57 PM on 09/30/2009

This PSA is brilliant! There have been a lot of other versions going around and I wanted to share the best in my opinion. I'm not technical, we'll see if this works....

[LifeAndCausality]

07:15 AM on 09/28/2009

For a good discussion of why this is off target, and where the money is really going, check out this article from US News and World Report..
http://www.usnews.com/money/blogs/flowchart/2009/08/25/why-health-insurers-make-lousy-villains.html

See for yourself who is really making all the profit here....
* Amgen (biotechnology): Profit margin, 30.6 percent
* Gilead Sciences (biotechnology): 37.6 percent
* Celgene Corp. (biotechnology): 11.9 percent
* Johnson & Johnson (drug manufacturer): 20.8 percent
* Pfizer (drug manufacturer): 16.3 percent
* GlaxoSmithKline (drug manufacturer): 17.4 percent
* Unitedhealth Group (healthcare plans): 4.1 percent
* WellPoint (healthcare plans): 4 percent
* Aetna (healthcare plans): 3.9 percent
* MedcoHealth Solutions (healthcare services): 2.1 percent
* Express Scripts (healthcare services): 3.7 percent
* Quest Diagnostics (healthcare services): 8.7 percent
* Medtronic (medical equipment): 14.9 percent
* Baxter International (medical equipment): 17.5 percent
* Covidien (medical equipment): 12.3 percent

[DoctorH]

07:28 PM on 09/25/2009

The video makes good points. Unfortunately, our one political party, which has the power to do something about this, is not going to listen until we elect a different Congress for ourselves.

There is only ONE political party in the U.S. It is the Special Interests Legally Bribing Congress and the President through Campaign Contributions party. Our government is perfectly efficient, according to the Golden Rule of Politics: He who supplies the gold (through campaign contributions) makes the rules. Do you ever hear big companies saying "Governement is ineffiicient. I'm going to stop contributing to political campaigns "? No you do not. The reason is that government is totally efficient, so companies always get everything they pay for.

If we voters want a government that represents US, we need to search the country for honest people who are willing to run for Congress, on the platform that they will accept NO Special Interest Group campaign money and will work for campaign finance reform, such that the taxpayers will pay for political campaigns. Then the voters will supply the gold, and, if we are eternally vigilant enough, we can begin to make the rules. The chosen candidates should also be willing to work to enact laws that are in the best interests of the American people as a whole, rather than to grease the palms of their friends.

[Crowned]

01:33 PM on 09/25/2009

Hey, stop channeling my neighbors here in North Florida!!

[ScreenRider]

05:08 AM on 09/25/2009

Just a reminder to spend one minute to let your elected representatives know how you feel about the Public Health Care Option! It is very easy!

Go to the “Tell your Congress Member” Site below, by clicking on the link below.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt
Once at the site, enter your zip code and either simply type your opinion, or simply cut & paste the following statement into their comment box)

We need a Public Health Care Option!
Whose side are you on? We the people elected YOU!
I’m angry, and I need your vote now!

[hippie4ever]

01:12 AM on 09/25/2009

Fox could run this as a public service announcement, lmao!

[LePistoir]

11:33 PM on 09/24/2009

AHIP wants profit insurance, Americans want health insurance.
Buying a senator (Baucus) or a political party (GOP) is a wise investment on their part.
They got just what they wanted out of the Finance Committee bill.

[HistoryBuff15]

09:09 PM on 09/24/2009

Great Satire!!

[rich10jr]

04:00 PM on 09/24/2009

lol, its so funny, lol, I have never seen the poll that says 80% of americans want a public choice. can anyone tell me what poll that came from?

[Talmageb]

04:15 PM on 09/24/2009

Funny that. It all depends on wording. If you ask people if they would like a choice between a public option and a private option polls have people responding universally between 70-80 percent that they would like such a choice. But, once you alter the poll (as NBC and others have done) to say Do you support the government setting up a public insurance company to compete with private insurers well then your numbers drop to an almost even split opposed to it. People don't like the idea of government competing with "private" businesses. Can't blame them. My suggestion is you frame it like this. Do you support the government creating a non-profit insurance company that would assist you in paying all of your medical bills and force mega billion dollar corporations to stop price gouging provide a higher level of services and keep their rates down, I think you could break that 80 percent mark. The corporate shills who are prevalent on this posting notwithstanding.

[caveman1313]

02:01 PM on 10/02/2009

i would add to your poll question: and are you willing to pay more in taxes to implement such a system.

[Senseimilla]

05:35 PM on 09/24/2009

Funny that you haven't heard it straight from the horse's mouth yet.

Google: Wendell Potter Bill Moyers

Then watch a former insurance exec for Humana and Cigna tell you how it REALLY is.

[RTruth]

03:21 PM on 09/24/2009

The combined net income for the entire year of 2008 for all the for profit health insurance companies would pay for about 10 days of Medicare costs. Insurance company profits are no more responsible for the healthcare crisis than movie profits are. All of these actors feed at the trough of capitalism and have hearty appetites ($10 to $20 million a movie). They also know nothing about insurance or healthcare, they are neither doctors nor actuaries. If these are the experts we are to rely on to fix healthcare, the solution is going to be much more painful than the problem. Get a clue, Will! or simply shut up. For those of you who don't know, Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans are not-for-profit associations protected by state regulations, and they are the public plan. They have very low overhead and pay more actual healthcare costs per dollar than do both the federal and state governments.

[BlackJAC]

03:27 PM on 09/24/2009

Then why is Blue Cross jacking up my premiums again?

[Talmageb]

03:55 PM on 09/24/2009

There is no problem. There is no healthcare crises. Healthcare costs have risen four times the rate that wages have grown but nobody is making any money. Health care companies do not operate at a 30 percent administrative cost. You do not pay twice as much money for half as much care as the rest of the world. Move along folks. Nothing to see here. There is no problem. Have a glass of milk and a cookie and go to sleep. RTruth says that you are happy with your lack of healthcare services. You forty million uninsured people do not deserve a solution. There is no working model that has been effective for every other industrialized nation in the world. Single payer universal healthcare which is employed by every other nation could never work in the wealthiest nation in the world. Healthcare does not represent 17 percent of the GDP. There is no solution. There is no problem. Stick your heads back in the sand. RTruth has figured it all out. Thank you so much Rtruth we are forever indebted to you.

[flankadank]

05:27 PM on 09/24/2009

Ah, we should take the blue pill.

[BlackJAC]

08:16 PM on 09/24/2009

Give me a sufficiently skilled accountant and I'll prove to you that Bill Gates still has student loans and credit card debt to pay off.

[Talmageb]

02:01 PM on 09/24/2009

If only there were a model for universal healthcare which provided for ALL citizens and which EVERY other industrialized nation used. Hmmm. Oh wait! There is! It's called a universal single payer healthcare system which is either run by or heavily regulated by the government. We are currently ranked 37th by the WHO behind several non industrialized nations yet still there are seemingly millions of Americans that are unaware of this option. I am confused as to why citizens of the United States insist on believing that the government cannot provide basic services for it's citizenry. Why is profitability the number one concern. Police, Firefighters, Public Education, Water Works, Highway Departments, Department of Defense, Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard, all of these are government run programs which provide basic services for it's citizenry none of which are run at a profit. Why not healthcare? Is it more important to be safe than healthy? If you really believe government does not work privatize all these social services and see how well off you are. These pro-insurance company arguments are the product of a misinformed population that is fighting against its own best interests. Why? I am baffled by the lack of critical thinking and inability for basic reasoning exhibited by my fellow Americans.

[txrunner]

04:53 PM on 09/24/2009

Seriously? This is your argument?

Police and Firefighters are local government employees - not federal. You were close - but States Rights won on this one.

Public Education - education is failing students daily - yet the federal government refuses to allow vouchers and give citizens the OPTION of where they want to get an education - they force them into the PUBLIC OPTION which is a failure. And tenured teachers are protected in a PUBLIC OPTION istead of performance based PRIVATE OPTIONS!

Department of Defense - a VOLUNTEER ARMY! And the VA Administration is broke and does a horrible job taking care of the sick veterans - forcing them into a beaurocratic system instead of CHOSING their own healthcare. And when the VA hospital removes a soldiers legs instead of his tonsils, he can't sue the Federal Government!

Private business owners get to buy into Blue Cross/Blue Shield - a risk pool for each state. BCBS provides reasonable insurance rates for individuals. No, it's not free, nor will the PUBLIC SOCIALIST OPTION!

What federal program is profitable and simple to access? None - because none of them have ever worked in a business or know how to operate a business!

[Senseimilla]

05:34 PM on 09/24/2009

You haven't heard former Health Insurance exec (for Cigna, Humana) named Wendell Potter talk about these lies you're spewing now have you?

[Talmageb]

09:59 AM on 09/25/2009

I notice that you don't/can't refute the entirety of my argument. Yes these institutions are in need of reform themselves and yes they could use more oversight and better regulation. The things that you neglect to refute are what make up the entirety of my argument. Who cares if it is state or federal. Not really the point. Public Education is failing because of thirty years of slashed funding and corporate care taking not because of tenured teachers. This is the same tired Republican arguments. See government doesn't work just put us in charge and we'll show you how bad it really can be. GOVERNMENT DOES AND CAN WORK. Profitable is not the issue. You should go back and read my post. And yes there are government programs that work. You know it. I know it. If you believe these lies then you are misinformed more than I could possibly help. Universal single payer government run healthcare the most successful model in the world. look it up.