ELECTION AD BLITZ: Health Care Industry on the Attack
With the zero hour approaching in November, the health care industry continues to wage the largest national advertising campaign ever launched by a political special interest group, the Bergen Record/Los Angles Times reports. The cost is an estimated $90 million for the election cycle, and the spoils are billions of dollars in profits. To date, leading pharmaceutical companies have already shelled out $34 million for television, radio and print ads in the fight against a Medicare prescription drug benefit, and managed care firms have taken up arms against "right-to-sue" legislation, dumping millions of dollars into commercials. "You're going to have the biggest ad blitz on health care America has ever seen," Mark Merritt, a strategist for the American Association of Health Plans, warned. According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, Citizens for Better Medicare, a group backed by the pharmaceutical industry, has spent about $34 million since last summer on its crusade against a drug benefit for Medicare patients. And researchers at the University of Pennsylvania add that at least six other health care groups have spent or committed to spending about $25 million on political commercials. However, according to Princeton University health economic Uwe Reinhardt, "the amount of money that's at stake" dwarfs the millions that the health care industry has spent on advertising. "The rate of return would be stunning if you hold off (stricter regulation) for another three to four years. It would be a fine investment ... and of course the TV industry will laugh all the way to the bank," he said.
Drug Companies Torment Dems
As part of its campaign, the drug industry has pinpointed key congressional races, blasting at least four House Democrats for "playing politics" with the Medicare drug coverage issue. While the ads do not specifically target the presidential race, officials heading Vice President Al Gore's campaign fear the ad barrage, which attacks his health care stances, could damage their candidate in November. "They're going to win some votes on this thing. When you put $50 million on the air, it's going to have its desired effect," one Gore adviser said. Some experts disagree, however, arguing that the industry blitz could backfire. "The more the (ad) campaign focuses on [the drug benefit] issue, the more Al Gore wins support," Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, concluded (Leeds, 7/24).