$1.5M ad campaign calls on GOP senators to vote against AHCA

Kelly Gooch -

The Community Catalyst Action Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Boston, plans to launch a $1.5 million TV and radio advertising campaign Monday, calling on five GOP senators to vote against the emerging ACA repeal and replace healthcare bill, reports The Washington Post.

The ad campaign focuses on "the damage the bill would inflict on Americans of all ages, particularly low-income children and seniors in need of long-term care," Community Catalyst said in a news release.

"The Senate is working in secret and rushing to pass a bill that will closely mirror the AHCA passed by the House, which strips care from 23 million people, raises costs for millions more and punishes kids, seniors and people with disabilities through steep cuts to Medicaid," Robert Restuccia, executive director of Community Catalyst, added. "We think it's critical that Americans across the country understand what's at stake for them and their families if the U.S. Senate passes this bill."

The ad campaign specifically targets; Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; and Dean Heller R-Nev., according to the report.

The 30-second TV ads, airing over the next couple weeks in Alaska, Maine, Nevada and West Virginia, feature a boy with asthma. As the boy is wheezing, his mother goes to get medication, and the national version of the ad states: "When this happens, she isn't thinking about the healthcare bill in Congress. She isn't thinking that it'll force her to choose between filling his prescriptions or paying their mortgage. She isn't thinking that when her premiums go up, they'll loose their health insurance, and she shouldn't have to. But our senators should. So when they vote on the new healthcare bill, tell them to think about what's right for our families and vote 'no.'"

The TV ads include that national version, as well as ads targeting the specific GOP senator in the state they're airing.

Community Catalyst said there are also radio ads, which will air in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and West Virginia, as well as digital ads that are part of the "Keep Care at Home" campaign. The campaign will include events in each state and "highlight the harm that proposed Medicaid cuts would cause for families who rely on home care," the group said.

Senate GOP leaders hope to have a vote on the healthcare bill before the Fourth of July recess. Assuming no Democrats vote for the legislation, the bill needs at least 50 of the 52 Senate Republican votes to pass.

 

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