Bringing public health back into public health policy debates

摘要

The soap-opera style Harry and Louise ad campaign against Clinton Administration health reform broadcast during 1993-1994 was financed by the Health Insurance Association of America, an industry group concerned that health reform would reduce their revenues. In one episode, Louise informed a coworker that health reform would result in new taxes and loss of "the quality we like, the doctors we want, plans like ours." The combination of simple, clear messaging and absence of a Clinton Administration response contributed to health reform's demise. In one series of polls, public opposition nearly doubled. There was a shift in public sentiment from concern about the uninsured to self-interest predicated on the notion that gains by others necessitate losses for oneself: less choice, fewer services, higher cost, and more government control.