Ominous images of anxious adults and children began flashing on streaming services and social media more than a week before Senate Democrats forced a government shutdown over their demands to renew expiring Obamacare insurance subsidies.
“Health care costs will skyrocket,” the advertisements warn, urging Americans to “Tell Congress” to act to continue the tax credits as the video shifts to a view of the Capitol building.
Health insurers, long concerned a spike in insurance premiums triggered by the subsidies’ expiration will drive away millions of customers, is seizing the moment as their best shot at heightening public attention to their message.
The advertising campaign, running across Hulu, Google and Facebook, kicked off on Sept. 20 as congressional Democrats threatened to shut down the government in part over extending the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits, which help lower the cost of health-insurance premiums for roughly 22 million Americans.
Only insurance lobbyists and allied health care advocates have adopted a distinctly bipartisan approach, enlisting at least one Republican strategist and emphasizing GOP-friendly arguments to further their cause.
“We are laser-focused on protecting access to high-quality, affordable health care—and working with policymakers to make it happen,” said David Merrit, senior vice president of external affairs for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which paid for the advertising campaign.
Their bet is that a lobbying offensive can ease the way for an agreement to renew the Obamacare subsidies as either a pathway out of the shutdown or a political priority afterward.
One fact sheet circulated to congressional offices by some in the industry estimates 19 million of the people with coverage that could be impacted live in states that President Donald Trump won in 2024.
“This is big in rural communities, farmers, ranchers, small business owners and small business workers,” said Brendan Buck, communications director for Keep Americans Covered, a coalition that includes health insurance companies as well as the American Medical Association, American Lung Association, and other health care advocates.
“There’s a natural constituency there,” said Buck, a well-known Republican strategist who served former House Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner. “I think Republicans see the political risk of allowing this to happen, particularly when the fight for the midterms is so intense.”