WASHINGTON, D.C. — Harry and Louise — the television advertisement couple credited with helping to defeat health care reform during the Clinton era — are back … again.
The middle-aged couple worried about friends’ lack of health care coverage during a brief ad campaign near the end of the recent presidential election season. Now, they’re starring in a multimillion-dollar cable and network television ad — this time talking up health care reform — for at least a three-week run, beginning this weekend, according to health care consumer advocate Families USA.
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The ad is a collaboration between Families USA and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the major trade association for the drug industry.
“The participation of Harry and Louise in this ad campaign clearly symbolizes how different the health reform debate is this year compared to the past,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of the health care consumers’ group, in a written statement. “With health care coverage increasingly unaffordable, health reform is not a luxury, but an absolute necessity, for America’s families.”
Billy Tauzin, president and CEO of the drug industry group, says now is the time for change. “Every single person in America, regardless of their income, should have access to affordable, high-quality health care coverage and services,” Tauzin said in the joint statement with Families USA. “This is a historic opportunity for change, and working together, we can achieve our goal, which will benefit both patients and the U.S. economy.”
Why would the drug industry pay for an ad campaign that’s aimed at lowering the price of health care — including the price of prescription drugs — on the way to overhauling the nation’s system?
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The drug industry wants a seat at the reform table. In May, it joined a coalition of health care representatives who pledged to help get comprehensive reform legislation passed this year. “At the same time, we also recognize the importance of tackling the rate of health spending growth,” Tauzin said in a May 11 statement about joining the coalition. “We appreciate that all health care stakeholders will need to make changes that lower the growth of overall health costs.”
Last month, Tauzin struck a deal with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who has been leading reform efforts in that committee, to spend $80 billion to reduce drug costs that contribute to the “doughnut hole“ in the Medicare prescription drug benefit. That’s the benefit gap that forces Medicare recipients to pay 100 percent of their drug costs after reaching $2,700 in benefits.
