America’s Health Insurance Plans–the insurance industry’s main professional association–with a seven-figure ad-buy, putting themselves on the side of reform. Sort of.
“Last December, we proposed reforms that would cover all Americans, guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions, and bend the health care cost curve,” said AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni.
One thing that would help bend the health care cost curve, of course, is a public option, which AHIP still opposes. But it is, perhaps, significant, that this ad is silent on the issue, even as three congressional committees have endorsed the proposal. Compared to the Harry and Louise ads of 1994, this stuff is downright mild.
The ad is called “Illness,” and the narrator insists: “illness doesn’t care where you live…or if you’re already sick…or if you lose your job. Your health insurance shouldn’t either.” By the same token, I suppose, illness doesn’t care whether reform legislation is bipartisan–but one step at a time.
