Ad Campaigns Aim at Health Overhaul

WASHINGTON – Major business groups are launching a series of new advertising campaigns aimed at shaping Congress' health overhaul.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents three million employers, plans to introduce a sharply worded multimedia advertising campaign in the next several days pushing back against the key planks of Democrats' health overhaul proposals. The group plans to run television and print advertisements in the Washington area and about a half dozen states with lawmakers who hold key votes in the debate, including Maine, Arkansas, Louisiana and Nebraska.

The ads will take aim at Democrats' proposals to create a public health insurance plan and raise taxes on the wealthy. The campaign also will emphasize the significance of existing employer-provided health insurance plans, which currently cover about 170 million Americans.

"The government already gets the shirt off your back," reads one print that features a bare-legged man covering himself with a briefcase. "If Congress passes new tax reforms, then hold on to your pants!"

"We don't think Congress should be racing" to pass the health legislation, said Bruce Josten, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "I think you're seeing a growing unease.... in Congress itself." Mr. Josten said the group will spend "a couple million" dollars initially on the campaign, though he declined to specify the precise amount.

Separately, America's Health Insurance Plans, the nation's largest health insurance lobby, on Monday launched a television advertising campaign costing at least $1 million, with ads that say the industry supports the idea of health overhaul -- but only one that is bipartisan.

So far, no Republicans have voted for the measures passed through committees in the Democratic-led Senate and House.