We're trying to make the debate a little more complicated, just like real life. The solution may not be as easy as you think. . . . All we have to do is remind people that there's no free lunch. In contrast to the tobacco battle, when anti-smoking groups could not afford television ads, the health care coalitions have not been able to monopolize the airwaves. The scaremongering they typically do is just not going to work.
People feel pretty deeply that the health care industry needs some regulation.
The air war is just beginning. The managed care association is running its TV ads in Washington for now but mapping a national strategy. Other groups, from the Business Roundtable to outfits with names such as the Patient Access to Specialty Care Coalition, are weighing in with spots on various sides of the issue. Not everyone is convinced that advertising will carry the day on this emotional subject. Any ad that we run is going to be a tough sell.