New Kerry Internet Ad: 'Time's up. This November, Accountability is on the Ballot.'

5/10/2004

From: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, 202-712-3000, both of John Kerry for President

WASHINGTON, May 10 -- The following was released today by John Kerry for President:

Over four years after George Bush promised to "have as a goal the idea of making sure people have got affordable health care and insurance policies to make sure they're able to pay for them," the John Kerry for President campaign unveiled a new Internet ad holding the President accountable for failing yet again to keep a campaign promise. "President Bush has been asleep at the wheel for years as health care costs have skyrocketed," said Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill. "Just like on the economy and jobs, this President has done nothing to help the American people who are facing increasing costs every day. Accountability is on the ballot this November, and President Bush's time is up." According to a new report out from Kerry's campaign today, premiums, out of pockets costs, co-payments and deductibles are spiraling out of control, burdening families and undermining our economy, and this President has done nothing since entering office to help. Total family premiums have increased by $2,777 in the last four years, and Americans now pay more for health insurance than any other country. As costs have risen, U.S. employers have found themselves at a competitive disadvantage and responded by slowing hiring and shifting to more part-time and temporary workers. While George Bush promised in his campaign to help families struggling to keep up, today's ad notes he has offered none. "We've got a crisis in health care," Cahill said. "Yet the President won't even act on his promise to the American people and offer a plan to help deal with rising health care costs. It's time he was held accountable, and it's time we had a President who will provide real relief for families and businesses." The ad, titled "Times's Up," will be emailed out to supporters across the nation and posted on the campaign's website. John Kerry has a five-point plan to build a stronger America by controlling health care costs for families, including providing families and businesses relief; cutting prescription drug costs; eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system; improving efficiency and quality of care; and making malpractice insurance more affordable. All this week, he will be talking about how he will build a stronger America where George Bush has failed and offer the American people a real plan to provide affordable, quality and reliable health care coverage. "Time's Up" and the Kerry campaign report on the health care costs can be viewed at http://www.johnkerry.com

--- To: Political Reporters, Editors and Producers From: The Kerry Campaign RE: An Unhealthy Week Ahead For the White House

As the American people wait for this President to take responsibility for the prisoner abuse scandal, we wanted to spotlight a domestic issue -- the lack of affordable health care -- that might otherwise get lost during what promises to be a busy news week. In 1991, the health care issue catapulted Harris Wofford into the U.S. Senate and brought the high cost of health insurance to the forefront. In 2004, it is going to be one of the reasons George Bush gets evicted from the White House. While many are fond of noting that President Bush has lost 2.6 million jobs during his first term, the sleeper statistics of this election cycle are the 4 million people who have lost their health insurance during Bush's first term AND the fact that health care costs have shot up every year Bush has been in office, rising nearly 14 percent in 2003 alone. The polling shows that Americans are very concerned about health care affordability. Sixty-two percent of respondents to a March Gallup poll said they personally worry about the rising cost of health care a great deal. Eighty-two percent of people responding to an April Kaiser Family Foundation poll said that the cost of health care and health insurance would either be the single most important or a very important factor in deciding their vote in November. In light of these polls and many others like them, Bush's failure to address skyrocketing health care costs stands out. Not only has he done nothing to alleviate the financial stress that families, small businesses, seniors, and vets are facing with increasing premiums, but the few proposals Bush has offered would make matters worse. His tax breaks would hardly make a dent in the thousands of dollars families are paying in premiums and other health care costs each year. Also, tax credits do nothing to ensure that Americans have access to quality, reliable coverage that provides the basic services they need. One instructive way of understanding the Bush team's failure to pursue substantive health policies is to consider that national Republicans collected $112 million over the past five years from the health care sector. The odor of the proverbial quid pro quo is pervasive when one juxtaposes these donations against the $130 BILLION in subsidies that private health providers got from the Medicare Bill as well as other anti- consumer policy decisions issued by the Bush Administration. With National Cover the Uninsured Week kicking off today, we are going to spend the next few days highlighting George Bush's failure to address skyrocketing health care costs, which has pushed millions out of the health care market. Families' health care premiums have increased by 49 percent under George Bush, leaving workers, small businesses, seniors, and vets straining to pay skyrocketing health care costs. Today, we're unveiling a new Internet ad that takes George Bush to task for failing to fulfill his 2000 campaign pledge to make sure people have access to health care and reliable, high- quality insurance policies they can afford. Throughout the rest of the week, we're going to highlight the correlation between campaign donations and Bush's failed health care policies. We'll also be discussing what George Bush's health care inaction is costing American families. These efforts will coincide with John Kerry's four-day campaign swing through Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Florida and Arkansas. Kerry will detail his plan to lower health care costs and provide affordable, quality and reliable coverage to Americans. Fact Sheet follows.

FACT SHEET Bush's Record of Failure: HEALTH CARE

American Health Care Spending Spirals While Bush Does Nothing

During the 2000 campaign, George W. Bush promised "I'm going to be talking about the uninsured, the working uninsured. I'm going to talk about affordability, to work with states to devise plans where the premiums aren't out of the reach for the working uninsured. ... I absolutely am going to talk about it." Unfortunately, four years later all Bush has done is talk about making health care affordable and Americans are tired of waiting for results. Americans can't afford another four years of Bush's "leadership" on health care. (CNN, interview in Austin, TX, 3/8/00)

-- Total Family Premium Increased by $2,777 to $9,549. During the past four years, from 2000 to 2003, total family premiums have increased by 41 percent from $6,772 to $9,549. (2000 MEPS Data from the Agency for Healthcare Quality Research projected forward using KFF National Premium Increase)

-- The Average Annual Health Care Premium Increase More than Doubled Under Bush. From 2000 to 2003, the rate of health care premium increase has more than doubled. From 1998-2000 the rate of increase was 5.3 percent and from 2000-2003 that rate was 12.7 percent. (Kaiser Family Foundation, "Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care Marketplace, 2004 Update")

-- Co-Pays for Prescription Drugs Have Increased by 46 percent for Preferred Drugs and 71 percent for Non-Preferred Drugs. While family health care premiums have continued to increase, so have prescription drug co-pays. From 2000-2003, co-pays for preferred drugs have increased by 46 percent while co-pays for non-preferred drugs have increased by 71 percent. (Kaiser/HRET Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits, 2000, 2003)

-- The Largest Three-year Increase in Health Premiums. Under President Bush, family health premiums paid by employees have gone up 49 percent. Adjusted for inflation that is a 40 percent increase in three years - the largest increase since 1978. (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Kaiser Family Foundation)

-- Personal Bankruptcies At All-Time High, Medical Bills A Leading Cause. An estimated 1.6 million families will file for bankruptcy in 2004, 90 percent from the middle-class. Health care costs will contribute to half of all of these bankruptcies. (NOW With Bill Moyers, 2/6/04; Consumers Union, 2/25/04)

-- Retiree Out-Of-Pocket Health Costs Increased By 20 Percent in 2003. Retirees under the age of 65 saw their personal expenses for health plans increase 20 percent in 2003 to $166 a month, while expenses for those over 65 increased 18 percent to $83 a month. (Kaiser Family Foundation, Retiree Health Benefits Survey 2003, www.kff.org)

-- Health Care Premiums Increased Four Times Faster than Workers' Earnings Last Year. Health care premiums increased by 13.9 percent last year while workers' earnings increased by only 3.1 percent. This is the fifth year in a row that premiums outpaced earnings. (Kaiser Family Foundation, "Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care Marketplace, 2004 Update")

-- One Quarter of Women Delay or Forgo Care Due to Health Care Costs. One-quarter (24 percent) of non-elderly women report delaying or going without care in the past year because they could not afford it. (Kaiser Family Foundation, Women's Health in the United States, May 2002, www.kff.org)

Number of Uninsured Rises and Employer Coverage Declines

In a January 2000 interview with Fox News, Bush argued that because emergency rooms were crowded in Texas, everyone had access to health care. "You go to emergency rooms in my state. . . . They're full of people. They're full of people. There's access." (FOX, "Fox News Sunday," 1/30/00)

-- Nearly 44 Million Americans Lack Health Insurance, Nearly 4 Million More Since Bush Took Office. After shrinking 2.3 million during the last two Clinton years, the ranks of the uninsured have swelled under Bush by 3.8 million to a total of 43.6 million. (U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, www.census.gov)

-- 18,000 Americans Die Every Year Due to Lack of Health Insurance. When people lack insurance they frequently delay or forego care, leading to 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year. (Institute of Medicine, Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations, 1/24/04)

-- Texas Led the Nation in Lack of Health Insurance From 1995-98. Texas ranked last in the United States in the percentage of residents with health insurance from 1995-98, according to the Census Bureau. (U.S. Census Bureau report on health insurance coverage, 10/99)

-- Minority Uninsured Rates Climb in Bush's America. 12.7 million non-elderly Hispanic population were uninsured in 2002. Among African Americans, 21.4 percent were uninsured in 2002. (U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov)

Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc. Web: http://www.johnkerry.com