www.HarryAndLoiseReturn.com

Press Contacts

Steve Weiss, ACS CAN (202) 661-5711

Jennifer Armstrong Gay, AHA (202) 626-2342

Fred Caesar, CHA (202) 721-6321

Dave Lemmon, Families USA (202) 628-3030

Stephanie Cathcart, NFIB (202) 314-2056

Press Releases

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

 

Washington, D.C. – Harry and Louise, the iconic couple featured in ads to defeat the Clinton health plan in 1993-1994, are back on television. This time they will lend their voice to strongly encourage health care reform.

The new multi-million dollar ad campaign will air on national television throughout the Democratic and Republican conventions. In light of ever increasing health care costs and increasing numbers of people without health insurance coverage, Harry and Louise will urge the next President and Congress to put health care at the top of the domestic agenda.

The ad campaign is sponsored by five prominent national organizations. Those organizations – the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Catholic Health Association (CHA), Families USA, and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) – represent diverse constituencies with historically different views on health care reform, but they have come together to promote urgent action to resolve the growing health care crisis.

The new ad was shown during a press conference today at the National Press Club. The ad will start airing on Sunday, August 24 and will continue through Sunday, September 7. The ad will be featured on the Sunday network talk shows, national cable networks (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel and Comedy Central) throughout the two-week period of the national party conventions, and on television news programs in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The joint campaign effort by the five organizations is intended to communicate the urgency of this crisis and demonstrate the commitment of these diverse groups to meaningful healthcare reform.

“With 47 million uninsured and 25 million underinsured people in America, the deepening health care crisis is jeopardizing the enormous progress we have made against life threatening diseases such as cancer,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “To win the war on cancer, which will kill more than 560,000 people in America this year, we must improve access to quality, affordable health care throughout the country.”

“Our hospitals and caregivers see first hand the effects that lack of coverage and access have for many people,” said Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association. “We must keep reform at the top of our national priority list.”

“Health care reform is a moral imperative, as well as an urgent practical necessity. CHA and Catholic hospitals across the country support a health care system that serves and protects the dignity of everyone," said Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, President & CEO, Catholic Health Association.

“Meaningful health care reform will only happen if it is the top and earliest domestic priority of the next President and Congress,” said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. “Our diverse organizations will work together to help make that happen.”

“The healthcare situation has reached crisis levels. Our nation’s job creators – the small business owners and mom and pop stores in our communities – are struggling with unsustainable and ever-increasing healthcare costs. Small firms have seen health insurance increases of 129 percent over the last eight years and they are paying more for the same benefits than their larger counterparts by nearly 20 percent,” said Todd Stottlemyer, president and CEO of NFIB. “The healthcare situation is unsustainable if it continues like this. Our nation’s leaders must make healthcare reform a priority, and it must address small businesses’ concerns. Our nation’s job creators can afford no less.”

Click here to download PDF of Press Release.