Four decades’ worth of TV’s top doctors are finally sharing the same screen. The bad news is, it’s an ad. But the good news is, the ad’s pretty good.
To encourage you to get an annual check-up from a real doctor, Cigna brought together an all-star team of fake doctors.
We’ve got Alan Alda (MASH’s Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce), Patrick Dempsey (Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd of Grey’s Anatomy), Donald Faison (Scrubs’ Christopher Turk), Noah Wyle (ER’s John Carter) and Lisa Edelstein (House’s Lisa Cuddy).
The “I’m not a real doctor, but I play one on TV” shtick has been milked plenty of times before, but if you’ve been a lifelong medical TV fan, this one will probably give you a healthy dose of nostalgia.
In the United States, there are currently over 44 million people with no health insurance. HealthJustice is introducing five TV spots featuring B.J. Hunicutt (Mike Farrell) of the hit televisions series M*A*S*H. Mr. Farrell has graduated from TV doctor to author and activist. HealthJustice produced a series of five ads with B.J. speaking to doctors and nurses about “Single Payer” health care.
What is Single Payer Health Care?
Single-payer healthcare is the payment of doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers from a single fund and is one of the systems used to provide Universal Healthcare. A bill has been introduced to Congress, H.R. 676, that outlines the “health care for all” strategy.
The Campaign
There will be five ads in rotation coordinated with a nationwide calling, emailing and faxing campaign to Congress and the White House. As of Friday, May 8th, over 25 thousand faxes, 2000 voicemails/phone messages and numerous emails had been sent to Congress and the White House, all requesting single payer health care.
The campaigns and the TV ads are funded entirely with donations to HealthJustice, typically less than $100 each. Seed money came from Physicians for a National Health Program and from the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care.
Who Pays?
In short, we do. Although there are no specifics, the bill does cover where funding would originate:
The bill is hitting at an opportune time as more and more Americans find themselves without jobs and health care. For more information, or to get involved, visit www.1payer.net.
Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312..
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