ABC special - a White House infomercial?
Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 6/22/2009 7:00:00 AM
ABC will air the special from the White House during primetime on June 24. "Prescription for America," to be moderated by ABC News' Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, will originate from the East Room and will feature the president explaining his plans for reforming the nation's healthcare system. Officials with the network claim they will air opposing views, that the audience that will offer up questions for the president during the program will be made up of Americans "who have divergent opinions" in the debate on national healthcare.
However, critics think the network will basically be providing President Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats with a free infomercial to sell their healthcare plan to the American public.
Ron Greiner is with Save101.com, which sells and promotes affordable healthcare coupled with tax-free health savings accounts (HSAs). He wonders if ABC will follow through with their promise to air an alternative view to Obama's health plan.
"The center piece of Republican healthcare reform is individual health insurance, portable insurance, and tax-free health savings accounts," he explains. "And it's just been reported from Time Insurance Company -- America's oldest health insurance company -- that 40 percent of all [people with] HSAs had no previous health insurance. So it's clear that HSAs get uninsured Americans insurance."
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Tax-free HSAs allow individuals to set aside money pre-tax, and at the end of the year those funds roll over with no penalties. Greiner believes linking that account with a health insurance plan that might have higher deductibles will allow people to purchase lower-cost health plans. With this plan, he says families can purchase health insurance for as little as $200 a month while building their savings account and generating wealth.
He adds that in Massachusetts, on which Democrats are basing the national healthcare model, healthcare costs some families as much as $1,000 per month -- and if families or individuals do not purchase the insurance, they face stiff fines.
According to a CNSNews.com report last week, ABC rejected an alternative healthcare ad submitted for airing during the primetime special on Wednesday. A network spokesman said at that time it was rejected because ABC does not accept "advocacy advertising."
