Backers of HMO Reform Initiatives Launch Ad Blitz

Encouraged by an opinion poll that showed two health-care regulation ballot initiatives gaining support among voters, proponents of Propositions 214 and 216 have kicked off a round of TV and radio ads in the campaign’s final days.

The ad campaigns touting the two competing HMO reform measures come after months of advertising attacks by opponents, who have ruled the airwaves with claims that both measures would raise taxes and medical costs and wipe out tens of thousands of jobs.

Proponents said their last-minute blitz was made possible partly by an influx of money after a Los Angeles Times Poll released last Friday found both measures holding a narrow edge. Support for Proposition 214 was leading by a margin of 35% to 29%, and Proposition 216--the tougher of the two--was ahead 34% to 29%.

The picture is far from clear, however, with a high number of voters undecided and another major poll showing both measures trailing badly. But Proposition 214 organizers said they have collected nearly $250,000 in fresh donations--most of it from labor unions--since The Times Poll results were published.

“The poll was very encouraging to us,” said Beth Capell, campaign manager for the group backing Proposition 214.

Proposition 216 supporters began airing radio and TV ads Monday featuring nurses and consumer advocate Ralph Nader accusing “insurance bureaucrats” at “giant HMOs” of making “life-and-death medical decisions--instead of qualified doctors and nurses.”

This weekend, Nader and his supporters will lead a two-day bus trek from San Diego to Sacramento--dubbed “the Magical Medical Tour”--to campaign for the measure.

Since Monday, the campaign has received $160,000 in additional funding from the Service Employees International Union--the principal backer of the measure--and $20,000 more, largely from a nurses union affiliate of the American Federation of City, State and Municipal Employees.

At the pro-Proposition 214 camp, Capell said the last-minute donations have made it possible for the campaign to begin airing statewide radio ads. The ads poke fun at the “Harry and Louise” ads that insurers used to help defeat President Clinton’s health reform package in 1993.

In this case, however, the husband-and-wife team are expressing dismay over insurance industry practices.

“Can you believe this?” the wife asks. “The HMOs and insurance companies have spent over $5 million to defeat Proposition 214.” The husband responds, “Isn’t that our health insurance premiums they’re spending?”

But opponents of the health-care measures--led by HMOs and hospitals--note that other polls show both initiatives trailing badly. The Times and Field polls showed that a relatively large number of voters--at least one in four--remains undecided on both measures.

A Field Poll released Tuesday showed Proposition 214 trailing 46% to 29% and Proposition 216 trailing 46% to 28%.

“We’re right on track and we’re confident that both initiatives are headed to a major defeat,” said Janet Maira, a spokeswoman for opponents of the two measures.

However, backers noted that the latest Field Poll showed the measures gaining ground over the last few weeks. They attributed the gain to undecided voters shifting to support of the measures.

Both of the rival measures would make it more difficult for health plans to deny medical care by giving patients the right to a second opinion when care is denied, protecting doctors from retaliation for telling patients about other medical options and requiring plans to disclose their criteria for denying medical services. Proposition 216 would also impose taxes on health-care mergers and limit insurance premium increases.