Digital buy shows health care policy contrast between Bredesen, Blackburn
NASVHILLE, TN – Americans for Prosperity ActionSM today launched a new six-figure digital campaign that contrasts Phil Bredesen’s support for a single-payer health care system that puts Washington, DC in charge and Marsha Blackburn’s support for patient-focused solutions that lower costs and give Tennesseans more control and choice over their care.
The campaign includes two digital ads: one contrasting Bredesen’s support for inserting more government bureaucracy into the health care system with Blackburn’s support for more health care freedom, and another 15-second spot highlighting Bredesen’s support for a single-payer system in his own words.
AFP Action Senior Advisor Tori Venable issued the following statement:
“Marsha Blackburn’s record of helping terminally ill patients have the Right to Try and support for making health care more affordable stands in stark contrast to Phil Bredesen’s support of a big government, single-payer health system. Doubling down on Obamacare’s failures by forcing Tennesseans to pay 19% higher taxes out of each paycheck and handing their health care choices over to government bureaucrats will harm Tennessee families far more than Obamacare has.
“Instead of more government-run health care, Marsha Blackburn has advocated for reforms that get Washington out of way, reduce costs, and let taxpayers keep more of their money. This difference in their approach to health care is another example of why our activists are working to spread the word, urging Tennesseans to elect Marsha Blackburn this November.”
Read the full ad script below:
Our families’ health means everything.
But Phil Bredesen would put D.C. in charge of care.
His plan? A single-payer system that could cost two TRILLION dollars and a NINETEEN percent tax hike on wages to pay for it.
Marsha Blackburn supports more affordable health care plans.
She took on DC bureaucrats, so patients could get life-saving treatment.
Marsha Blackburn – the right choice for Tennessee.
Read the full ad script for the second video below:
What does Phil Bredesen think of single payer?
“Single payer – the federal government collecting the money and then turning it over – I’m, that’s what I think actually we should do.”
“That’s what I think actually we should do.”
Bredesen – wrong for Tennessee.
Background:
Right to try allows terminally ill patients to access potentially life-saving experimental medication and treatment that has passed basic Food and Drug Administration safety protocols
In addition to digital ads, Americans for Prosperity Action will release hundreds of thousands of mailers across Tennessee in support of Marsha Blackburn. Last week, the group knocked on nearly 1,000 doors and made over 21,000 phone calls urging Tennesseans to vote for Marsha Blackburn.
Bredesen Supports A Single-Payer System.
- In Discussing The Health Care Plan Outlined In His Book, Bredesen Said He Supports A Single-Payer System In Which The Federal Government Collects The Money And Then Turns It Over. Q: “Something you discuss in Fresh Medicine and what this Tweeter brings to the table, your views on single payer and what looks good going forward?” BREDESEN: “Single payer – the federal government collecting the money and then turning it over – I’m, that’s what I think actually we should do.” (“Fresh Medicine,” C-SPAN, 10/20/10, @ 28:52)
Bredesen Proposed A Nineteen Percent Tax Hike To Pay For His Plan.
- “The big change we’ll make is to replace the private component, which includes all the various premiums paid by individuals and employers for health insurance, with a straightforward addition to existing payroll taxes. In our base 2007 year, total salaries and wages paid were $6.141 trillion, and so in its simplest terms—a starting place—this would require an additional 3% Federal Insurance Contribution Act tax (FICA) contribution, or about $7,900 for an American with an average $41,000 wage. If that cost were split between an employer and employee in a typical ratio of three-quarters to the employer and one-quarter to the employee, that would mean an annual cost to the employee of a little under $2,000, or about $165 per month. (Of course, to be strictly fair, the employer cost is also paid by the employee as well, in that those costs might well displace additional wages or other benefits that the employer might have been able otherwise to provide.)” (Phil Bredesen, “Fresh Medicine: How To Fix Reform And Build A Sustainable Health Care System,” Grove Atlantic, 2010, p. 201)
Blackburn Supports Right To Try.
- Blackburn Was An Original Cosponsor Of The House Version Of The Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, And Matthew Bellina Right To Try Act Of 2018. (“H.R. 5247 – Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, And Matthew Bellina Right To Try Act Of 2018,” gov, 3/13/18)
- Blackburn Voted In Favor Of The Final Version Of The Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, And Matthew Bellina Right To Try Act. (S. 204, Roll Call Vote #214: Passed 250-169: R 228-0; D 22-169, 5/22/18, Blackburn Voted Aye)
Blackburn Supports More Affordable Health Care Plans.
- In October 2017, President Trump Signed An Executive Order Seeking To Expand The Ability Of Small Businesses And Other Groups To Buy Health Insurance Through Association Health Plans (AHPs) And To Lift Limits On Short-Term Health Insurance Plans. “President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at taking action on ObamaCare on his own after Congress failed to repeal the law. … Trump’s order seeks to expand the ability of small businesses and other groups to band together to buy health insurance through what are known as association health plans (AHPs). It also lifts limits on short-term health insurance plans.” (Peter Sullivan, “Trump Eases ObamaCare Rules With Executive Order,” The Hill, 10/12/17)
- Blackburn Praised Trump For His Executive Order, Calling It Great News For “Those Who Have Been Priced Out Of The Marketplace Due To Skyrocketing Premiums And Outrageous Deductibles.” (Representative Marsha Blackburn Facebook, 10/12/17)
- According to the Urban Institute, an estimated 120,000 Tennesseans will sign up for short-term policies in 2019. 56,000 of them would have been otherwise uninsured.
