skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Groups Spend Ad Money to Counter What They Say Are Health Care Myths

play audio
Play

Wednesday, August 12, 2009   

MINNEAPOLIS - President Obama's healthcare reform message at a town hall meeting on Tuesday was that the status quo is failing many Americans.

While groups like AARP agree, its members also are concerned about the increasingly angry tenor of such gatherings in recent weeks. At Minnesota AARP, Deborah Jaquith says she's worried that opponents of reform have resorted to sprinkling their arguments with false information.

"They're talking about some key myths - it's a 'government takeover.' 'You know it will lead to rationing.' 'It costs too much.' 'It will hurt Medicare.' And that's just not true."

Jaquith says her group will be using its blog to counter inaccuracies, and also will have information to share at a Minnesota State Fair booth, August 27 through September 7. On the other side of the argument, groups such as Americans for Prosperity have launched "Hands Off My Health Care," a bus tour that features praise for the free-market system.

Obama spent about an hour at the New Hampshire town hall meeting, answering questions from supporters and opponents of the health reform plan. He told them insurance companies have too much say in what happens with healthcare today - and Jaquith agrees.

"As it stands right now, people are already having healthcare decisions made for them by insurers. Insurers are telling doctors how they should be treating their patients, not the other way around."

A host of organizations on all sides of the healthcare reform debate have spent more than $52 million on television, radio and print advertising nationwide, according to one analysis. The AARP campaign can be viewed online at http://aarp.convio.net.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021