Ad Themes

Here are the suggested monthly themes and some concepts for each theme. It is more likely that your Ad will be chosen as a 365 Ad of the Day if it is consistent with the theme of the month, but it is not a requirement. We’ll feature a really good Ad on any aspect of single payer universal health care.

Month #1 – March, 2010 – Introduction to the Campaign

The ads in the first month  will be produced by California OneCare and feature celebrities, politicians, and health care activists.

Month #2 – April, 2010 – Health Care Victim Stories

  • I was denied care
  • I lost my job and my health care
  • I had to delay care
  • I can’t afford my medications
  • I can’t afford the surgery I need
  • I can’t get the therapy I need
  • I had to have an amputation
  • I suffered a medical accident
  • My child died
  • We went bankrupt
  • I had to become destitute
  • We can’t afford chemotherapy
  • We had to pull the plug
  • I was sent home too soon
  • My baby was born too early
  • I had to treat myself
  • There is no place to put Mom
  • They lost my medical records
  • My procedure was not authorized
  • I’m going to die soon
  • My child needs a heart valve
  • I need a transplant
  • I need physical therapy
  • I had to choose: food or medications
  • I need dental work
  • They sent me home to die
  • I had to wait 5 months to see a doctor
  • I almost died in the emergency room
  • Chronic conditions are excluded
  • I can’t quit my job
  • I can’t stay married
  • We have to stay married
  • I can’t start a new business

Month #3 – May, 2010 – Why Single Payer?

  • Health care is a human right
  • SP puts patients first
  • SP will save money for families, businesses, and government
  • Other countries with SP spend less
  • Other countries with SP have better health outcomes
  • SP will maximize the risk pool
  • SP stresses preventive care which saves money & lives
  • Premiums will cost less with SP
  • You may choose any doctor
    or hospital you wish with SP
  • SP is the only way to control costs
  • SB 810 will control fraud
  • Electronic record keeping will save money & improve care
  • SP will put doctors where they are needed
  • SP will put hospitals where they are needed
  • Doctors will be fairly compensated
  • No middle men to skim off $
  • No deductibles or co-pays
  • No exclusions for preexisting conditions
  • Your coverage can’t be canceled
  • The coverage is comprehensive
  • SP covers dental care
  • SP covers prescriptions
  • SP covers mental health care
  • SP covers drug abuse treatment
  • SP covers hospice care
  • Incentives will promote quality care
  • SP will promote free market competition among providers
  • Most doctors will do better financially under SP
  • A SP system will be accountable to patients not shareholders
  • Treatment formularies will improve the quality of care
  • SP is accountable to taxpayers
  • There is an appeal system with SP
  • SP will control Workman’s Comp costs
  • SP is good for business
  • Taiwan successfully switched to SP fifteen years ago

Month #4 – June, 2010 – How Does Single Payer Work?

  • SB 810 creates the California Health Insurance Agency (CHIA)
  • CHIA collects all of the premiums as progressive taxes
  • Premiums will be lower than you are paying now
  • Providers bill CHIA & get paid
  • CHIA issues a OneCare card
  • Your card entitles you to:
  • Services by Hospitals and Health Facilities
  • Services by Physicians
  • Services by Licensed Healthcare Professionals
  • Diagnostic imaging
  • Laboratory services
  • Prescription drugs
  • Dentistry
  • Vision care
  • Mental health care
  • Preventive care
  • Rehabilitative care
  • Prosthetics
  • Eyeglasses
  • Hearing aids
  • Immunizations
  • Blood products
  • Podiatry
  • Dialysis
  • Home health care
  • Emergency care
  • Chiropractics
  • Acupuncture
  • Adult day care
  • Health education
  • Up to 100 days in a skilled nursing facility after hospitalization
  • Emergency or necessary transportation
  • Language interpretation
  • Hospice care
  • No deductibles or co-pays
  • No exclusions for preexisting conditions
  • You may choose any doctor you wish
  • You and your doctor together manage your care
  • No pre-authorizations are required
  • After referral, you choose any specialist
  • Medicare is not necessary
  • Medicare funds go to CHIA
  • Electronic medical records follow you
  • Keep your coverage regardless of job
  • Everyone is covered for life
  • You’re covered when you travel
  • Inspector General prevents fraud
  • Drs. incentivized to practice in underserved areas
  • Use any hospital, lab, clinic, or other provider
  • Dr.’s fees are negotiated to be fair
  • Your coverage cannot be canceled
  • A physician will be in charge of quality
  • CHIA will be accountable to taxpayers
  • Incentives for preventive care
  • Incentives to improve quality of care
  • All family members are covered always for everything
  • A policy board protects stakeholders

Month #5 – July, 2010 – What’s Wrong with Private Insurance?

  • Fiduciary responsibility to shareholders not patients
  • Incentives are to limit care
  • Few incentive to control healthcare costs
  • They take 30% off the top
  • They profit from illness & suffering
  • They provide nothing in the way of care
  • They do not operate in a ‘free’ market
  • Health care is not a commodity
  • They only want to insure healthy people
  • There are few incentives for prevention
  • “Cherry-picking” will lead to a “death spiral”
  • Adverse selections means taxpayers pay for the sickest
  • Preexisting conditions are excluded
  • They require co-pays & deductibles
  • Your choice of doctors is limited
  • Treatments must be pre-authorized
  • Poorly trained clerks decide on care
  • They practice rescission
  • They delay, confuse and deny
  • Paperwork is an expensive nightmare
  • Doctors must fight to get paid
  • They add 25% to provider overhead
  • Premiums rising faster than inflation
  • They require extensive regulation
  • Executives get rich while people suffer
  • They don’t care about patients
  • They make money by denying care
  • They are bankrupting hospitals
  • They are bankrupting families
  • They create incentives for overtreatment
  • They cause medical mistakes
  • No cooperation for electronic records
  • Health savings accounts are good for you

Month #6 – August, 2010 – What You Can Do

  • Give a OneCare Card to everyone you see
  • Write a letter of endorsement
  • Show the video to everybody you know
  • Write a letter to the Governor to sign the bill
  • Get your organization to endorse the bill
  • Hand out flyers
  • Call your legislator
  • Write letters to the editor
  • Attend a demonstration
  • Organize a march
  • Get your city council to endorse the bill
  • Get your union to endorse the bill
  • Donate money – lots of it
  • Healthy Majority Campaign activities (in each key district)
  • Raise money for ads
  • Attend a rally
  • Make an ad for the 365 Campaign
  • Recruit one new supporter every day
  • Hold a house party
  • Have a street party
  • Picket an insurance company
  • Make a sign or poster
  • Make a freeway sign
  • Get your county government to endorse the bill
  • Tell your legislator how you will vote
  • Join Health Care for All–California
  • Form or join a OneCare Team
  • Become a speaker
  • Tell your doctor to support SP
  • Tell your dentist to support SP
  • Stage a street theater event
  • Visit somebody in the hospital and recruit them

Month #7 – September, 2010 – What You Can Tell The Governor So He’ll Sign SB 810

  • Be a hero
  • Don’t be a sellout
  • Do the right thing
  • Think about people for a change
  • Listen to Maria
  • You’ll get sick, too, one day
  • Remember Austria?
  • Strong men care about people
  • Be your own man
  • Private insurance is thievery
  • Health care is a third of the state budget
  • Don’t you want to save money?
  • You’ll go down in history
  • You’ll get elected for anything you want
  • It’s what the people want
  • It’s what labor wants
  • It’s what doctors and nurses want
  • There’s no future without it
  • Incremental changes will surely fail
  • How can you be so cruel to children?
  • What about people in rural areas?
  • You’ll still be able to get plastic surgery
  • You’re going to cause Republicans to lose
  • It will create jobs
  • It will stimulate the economy
  • It’s not socialized medicine
  • It will be a boon to commerce
  • It will improve public health
  • What would your mother do?
  • People are dying
  • We’ll be back!

Month #8 – October, 2010 – Why Single Payer is Good for Business and Government

  • Reduced absenteeism
  • Increased productivity
  • Healthier workforce
  • Predictable healthcare expenses
  • More competitive overseas
  • Decreased HR expenses
  • Improved employee morale
  • Level playing field for recruitment
  • Fewer disgruntled employees
  • No surprise increases in healthcare costs
  • More entrepreneurs & innovation
  • Easier labor negotiations
  • Lower workman’s comp costs
  • Substance abuse treatment available
  • Healthcare accountability
  • Less incentive to invade privacy
  • More openness and honesty
  • Protects most important resource – people
  • Relieves local governments of healthcare burden
  • Predictable benefits costs
  • Saves money over private insurance
  • Saves money for the state
  • Improves commerce overall
  • Relieves public malaise and distrust
  • More money for other things like infrastructure & environment
  • Accountability in government
  • The Inspector General will reduce fraud
  • There is a grievance & appeal process
  • Public health would improve
  • Regulation and oversight simplified
  • Market forces at work for providers

Month #9 – November, 2010 – Myths About Single Payer

  • SP is socialized medicine
  • Canadian healthcare is worse
  • There’s rationing in Canada
  • Canadian Doctors are leaving Canada
  • Canadians come to the U.S. for treatment
  • U.S. has the best healthcare in the world
  • Doctors don’t want single payer
  • SP would mean long waits
  • SP would mean lower quality care
  • SP would cost more
  • The system would be overrun
  • Illegal immigrants would flock to CA
  • People from other states would move to CA
  • Doctors would leave CA
  • There would be healthcare rationing
  • Health insurance workers would be unemployed
  • People would be excluded
  • We would lose our Medicare
  • I would have to pay for indolent people
  • All that coverage would cost too much
  • People would rip off the system
  • The government can’t do anything right
  • I wouldn’t be able to stay with my Dr.
  • I wouldn’t be able to stay with Kaiser
  • There won’t be enough Doctors
  • There won’t be enough nurses
  • Doctors will leave the profession
  • It will be like getting care at the DMV
  • European countries are going broke because of health care costs
  • It’s not the “American Way”
  • Unions would not support it
  • Business is against it
  • Nobody wants this kind of system
  • It’s not politically feasible
  • Pharmcos would stop doing research

Month #10 – December, 2010 – Why Single Payer is Good for Health Care Providers

  • Dr’s get paid for everything on time
  • Pre-authorizations are not required
  • A return to practicing medicine instead of paper pushing
  • Electronic records always available
  • Emphasis on quality care
  • Emphasis on preventive care
  • More resources for treatment
  • Incentives for more & better nursing care
  • Resources to train more doctors & nurses
  • Dr. incentives to go to underserved areas
  • Hospitals won’t go broke
  • Relieves pressure on emergency rooms
  • Simplify pharmacy administration
  • Reduce medical mistakes
  • Capital funds to build hospitals
  • Fair and equitable compensation
  • Free to choose capitation if desired
  • Reduced overhead means increased profits
  • Free market system among providers
  • Treatment formularies based on facts
  • Fair and reasonable compensation
  • Regular, periodic review of compensation
  • Emphasis on patient care first
  • Resources allocated fairly
  • All treatment options available
  • Funds allocated for research
  • No second guessing by insurers
  • Adequate facilities available to all
  • Post-op treatment available
  • Chronic care is covered
  • No need to negotiate with different plans
  • Adequate nursing staff
  • Accountability in the system

Month #11 – January, 2011 – Why Single Payer is Inevitable: We Will Win!

  • Legislators need votes more than they need money
  • We are only 3 votes short in each house of the legislature
  • City governments are behind us
  • Labor unions are behind us
  • 2/3 of the voters are already behind us
  • A majority of doctors want it
  • A vast majority of nurses want it
  • The LWV wants it
  • We have the power–people power
  • Insurance companies don’t care about you
  • Insurance companies commit fraud
  • Pharmaceuticals radically overcharge
  • Insurers cause too many medical mistakes
  • You can’t outsource health care
  • There would be more jobs
  • It would stimulate the economy
  • Insurers are making money on our suffering
  • Executives are getting rich from your pain
  • Insurers deny care when you really need it
  • Insurance company employees get bonuses for rescissions
  • There is no need for insurance company middlemen
  • There’s enough money without insurance companies
  • Retired Americans want SP
  • Medical students want SP
  • Hospitals are closing
  • Emergency rooms are closing
  • Patients are being diverted from ERs
  • People can’t afford meds for kids
  • Legislators work for us, not them
  • We will override a veto of the SP bill
  • SP is what people want
  • Only SP has a constituency among the people—insurers don’t

Month #12 – February, 2011 – What It Will Be Like When We Have California OneCare

  • We all get a OneCare card
  • My OneCare card works anywhere
  • I didn’t have to get a pre-authorization
  • I got my medications with my card
  • I chose my own doctor
  • We didn’t have to wait at the ER
  • My child got all her shots
  • I can start my new business
  • I got treatment for substance abuse
  • We got hospice care for Dad
  • I was able to recuperate after surgery
  • I got help losing weight
  • I was able to get a root canal
  • I had my regular check-up and I’m fine!
  • They admitted me right away
  • The surgery I got saved my life
  • They have a new way to treat cancer
  • The nurses were wonderful!
  • My lab results were available immediately
  • My doctor arranged an MRI right away
  • I’ve got my son’s asthma under control
  • I lost my job–but not my coverage
  • I can tell them where they can put this job
  • I can marry the man I love!
  • They had a translator at the Dr.’s office
  • My medical record was available in another hospital immediately
  • They paid my doctor right away
  • I didn’t handle one single piece of paper
  • The acupuncture relieved my pain
  • I don’t have to worry about Mom anymore
  • They cured me and it was free!