Healthcare Reform Focus of New Harry and Louise Ads

Article date: August 19, 2008

Harry and Louise are back. The fictional Everyman couple who starred in a series of ads criticizing the Clinton heath care plan in the mid-1990s has returned to the small screen – and this time, they're advocating reform.

The campaign is backed by 5 health organizations dedicated to making health care reform the number one priority on the national agenda.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy partner of the American Cancer Society, has teamed up with the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Catholic Health Association (CHA), Families USA, and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) to sponsor the ads. The agencies have historically had different views on healthcare reform.

"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 status quo is no longer a real option," Pollack said during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, announcing the campaign.

The ads will run on Sunday network talk shows and national cable networks (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, and Comedy Central) from August 24th through September 7th and will coincide with both the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

“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.”

In 2007, the American Cancer Society launched the Access to Care campaign, a national initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the numbers and struggles of uninsured and underinsured people in the United States. The campaign encourages Americans to make access to care a national priority.

To learn more about ACS CAN and find out how you can get involved in the fight against cancer, visit their Web site. To learn more about Harry and Louise and to see the ad, check out www.harryandlouisereturn.com.

Reviewed by: Members of the ACS Medical Content Staff

ACS News Center stories are provided as a source of cancer-related news and are not intended to be used as press releases.