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Contact: Dan Boston at (202) 624-1522, Alicia Mitchell at (202) 626-2339 or Media Relations Officer at (202) 828-0975

Coalition to Protect America's Health Care Hits the Airwaves to Restore Funding for Critical Patient Services

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Washington, D.C., September 6, 2000 -- With many of America's hospitals being forced to cut vital services, the Coalition to Protect America's Health Care today began airing a new ad to educate the public about hospitals' fragile financial situation and what that means for the patients and communities they serve.

The ad is the second in an unprecedented media campaign, launched in late July, involving a broad-based group of more than 250 businesses, hospitals, and national, state and local hospital associations. The Coalition is leading the charge for additional relief from the deep Medicare cuts in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA).

Entitled "Always There," the ad asks "What would you cut?" referring to vital community health services that hospitals could be forced to eliminate.

In 1997, Congress and the White House cut hospital funding to help balance the budget, but these reductions have been far more severe than anticipated. Although Washington last year provided modest relief from the unintended BBA cuts, hospitals need additional funding to continue to provide the vital services patients and communities rely on.

New figures on the nation's burgeoning budget surplus provide a solution to the funding problem. The Coalition is urging Congress to adopt a handful of key proposals designed to provide relief to hospitals.

The Washington, D.C.-based communications firm of McCarthy, Marcus and Hennings is developing the Coalition advertising. Versions of the ad will air nationally in broadcast and radio, as well as appear in print media. (Attached is a copy of the ad schedule.) The ad builds on the first commercial entitled "Nurse," in which a nurse discusses the impact federal cuts to health providers are having on her ability to provide patient care.