The Coalition for a Healthy Tennessee this week began radio ads and direct mail across the state to support passage of Insure Tennessee, the conservative, market-based health care reform plan proposed by Governor Bill Haslam.
The media launch is an addition to the vibrant statewide grassroots campaign underway that involves thousands of business, health care and civic organizations across Tennessee who are making contact with legislators. The Coalition’s media presence includes www.insuretennesseenow.com, @InsureTNNow and facebook.com/insuretennesseenow.
“It is vital for people to know that what Governor Haslam is proposing is conservative, free-market health care reform and not more of the same Medicaid from Washington, D.C. Insure Tennessee is distinctly not traditional Medicaid expansion,” said coalition spokesman Charlie Howorth, executive director of the Tennessee Business Roundtable. “By departing from the Washington model, Governor Haslam has found a way to provide coverage for working Tennesseans caught in the coverage gap and to stabilize rural hospitals that are currently at risk of closure. We can achieve this with no new taxes and no cost impact to the state.”
The Coalition’s radio spots began airing today in markets across Tennessee. The entire radio script reads as follows:
“Time and time again, Tennesseans have rejected the Obama agenda and his Obamacare plan that moves health care decisions out of our state and into the hands of DC bureaucrats.
“That ‘s why Governor Haslam has introduced the Insure Tennessee Plan to cover hundreds of thousands of hard-working Tennesseans. It’s a conservative, market-based approach that will result in no new taxes, no new state government spending, and stability for our state’s rural hospitals.
“No new taxes and no new state government spending to make sure more of our fellow hard-working Tennesseans have health care… That’s the conservative way, that’s the Tennessee way.
“Call 1-800-449-8366 to tell your legislator to stand with Governor Haslam and Insure Tennessee Now or go to Insure Tennessee Now Dot Com for more information on Insure Tennessee. Paid for by The Coalition for a Healthy Tennessee.”
The Coalition’s first direct mail piece, attached here,emphasizes that Insure Tennessee is “a Common Sense, Conservative Solution for True Health Care Reform in Tennessee.”
The Coalition has more than 100 members, including many large member organizations, including chambers of commerce and other health care, business and civic organizations committed to gaining approval of Insure Tennessee. The group last month launched a website – www.InsureTennesseeNow.com – and is conducting grassroots advocacy in all 95 counties. The group is led by the Tennessee Business Roundtable.
Public health care forums featuring Insure Tennessee will held in Chattanooga, Jan. 22; Jackson, Jan. 30; and Tri-Cities, Feb. 6. Forums have been conducted in Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville.
The campaign, including paid media, is entirely funded by private supporters of Insure Tennessee through the Coalition for a Healthy Tennessee.