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Harry and Louise Return

Posted by: Ron Pollack on Aug 19, 2008

Fifteen years ago, two fictional characters, Harry and Louise, entered the lives of millions of Americans. From our living rooms, we watched as the couple sat around their kitchen table, shuffling through layers of bills and talking frankly about their health care situation. Specifically, they were concerned that "government bureaucrats" would force them into choosing a health care plan that wasn't right for them.  "Having choices we don't like is no choice at all," they said. "If they choose. We lose."  And lose we did....there are now millions of more uninsured Americans and health care premiums increases are far outstripping stagnant wages.

Due in part to the Harry and Louise ads, the strong health insurance and small business lobby, and other economic and political factors, President Clinton's 1993-1994 health care reform was derailed.  The opposition to Clinton's health care plan was led by the Coalition for Health Insurance Choice, funded by the Health Insurance Association of America.

As the saying goes, they're baaaack. And this time Harry and Louise are singing a different tune.

The camera has dropped in on this couple again, and the scene is similar to the original - although they've aged a few years and have since renovated their kitchen. This time, however, Harry and Louise are strongly encouraging health care reform:

The ad campaign, is sponsored by five prominent national organizations. The organizations - the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Catholic Health Association (CHA), Families USA, and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) - represent diverse constituencies with historically different views on health care reform, but we have come together to promote urgent action to resolve the growing health care crisis.

The weight of these diverse organizations coming together is significant, and shows our commitment to seeing meaningful health care reform in the next Administration and Congress. With 47 million uninsured Americans and 25 million underinsured Americans, reform must be a top priority in 2009.