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Health Care Bill Gets Plug from Andy Griffith

07/31/2010 18:24:00 Rachel Stockton

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Here are two indisputable facts: on July 30, 1965, the Andy Griffith Show was one of the most popular television shows being broadcast at the time. And, on that same date President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act of 1965, which introduced the nation to a new program called Medicare. The first two social security card recipients were Harry and Bess Truman.

So, it seems fitting that Andy Griffith, now most certainly the age of many Medicare recipients, is a spokesperson for Medicare’s $700,000 ad campaign, preceding the open enrollment period by several months.

Although the ad is Medicare focused, President Obama’s health care reform bill gets a plug from one of the most trusted and popular television icons in history. According to USA Today, Griffith states the following: “With the new health care law, more good things are coming -- free checkups, lower prescription costs, and better ways to protect us and Medicare from fraud. See what else is new -- I think you're going to like it.”

The new law, which President Obama signed into law in March 2010, is the most radical change in health care since July 1965.

Opponents of the bill were quick to respond to the ad by reminding taxpayers that in order to remain solvent for the next dozen years, seniors will be forced to relinquish some of their most treasured benefits, including Medicare Advantage plans.

Obama’s health care bill has some things in common with the original Medicare program, and that is that there are those who voiced opposition to both laws, believing that they would lead the country into socialism.In fact, while campaigning for the senate in 1964, George H. W. Bush referred to the Medicare as “socialized medicine.”(St. Petersburg Times)

Part of the dissatisfaction with the Medicare system comes from the fact that a major source of funding for the program comes from payroll taxes, which is counterintuitive, making the baby boomer population problematic; population growth has not kept pace in subsequent generations.

According to the New York Times, in 1998, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warned a bi-partisan committee that if changes were not made to the program, Medicare would be in serious trouble by the time the first 76 million baby boomers turn 65 in 2011.

Specifically, he stated that the aging of baby boomers ''will add nearly 20 percent to the level of health care spending.”

Only time will tell whether or not the Griffith ad will convince naysayers.

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Comments (39 posted):

Tony Zapata on 07/31/2010 19:25:50

Andy please stick to fishing.
The odor of goodness reeks!
I conducted a private poll asking a simple question as follows....
"How many of you that tout the Obama Health Plan as wonderful, will be dropping out of their current health plan and opt-in the Obama Health Plan."
To date not one, I repeat, not one!
No person, group, organization including all Politicians up to the President can in all HONESTY promote any SERVICE or PRODUCT without being a user of that SERVICE and or PRODUCT. If not, then they are DISHONEST HYPOCRITES! Likens to Snake Oil salesmen. End of story.

George on 07/31/2010 19:31:33

Andy Griffith is senile.

Tom on 07/31/2010 19:43:38

Hello? It is National Health Care with national insurance regulation. Everyone participates.. with the exception of illegal immigrants who are excluded. The only legitimate complaints are from insurance companies who now have to spend at least 80% of their revenues on healthcare, up from 65% in some cases.

You know you probably can opt out of both Medicare and the new Healthcare if you join the right cult.

s. rasmussen on 07/31/2010 19:55:18

First of all, the other commentators must be fat cats who have oodles of dough to take care of their needs, health or otherwise.

Why is it in this country when a law takes care of the poor people (many of whom ended up that way due to the greed and rapaciousness of the fat cat capitalist pigs), it automatically described as "socialized" whatever (here medicine) as a pejorative term?

Opposite of A, is not B, it is non-A, assuming you know some logic.

Taking care of the unfortunate members of society is the Christian thing to do -- of course the capitalist pigs talk as if they are "true Christians" and make God hide his face in shame at the atrocities committed in his name
When crises come to a critical mass,

No doubt, there will be a revolution. A society cannot have the downtrodden under their feet forever.

This country is not a stranger to revolution, either.

artorius on 07/31/2010 20:48:47

Good for you, s. rasmussen at 19:55:18. At last, someone who knows Boolean algebra and uses it to counter (properly) a false state in logic circuitry (meaning the misfiring neurons in Tea Partyers' sorry brains).

Artemus Martin on 07/31/2010 21:16:11

I couldn't help but notice a note by "s rasmussen," who I assume is the same s rasmussen to periodically runs shamelessly biased poll results decrying the popularity of health insurance reform so Fox News will have a poll to pimp that supports their soulless views. Shame on you again, s.

Unk Known on 07/31/2010 21:17:25

@s. rasmussen, You seen to have a lot of resentment toward free market. Many of the poor people are that way of their own accord. The word pig is better used to describe a person who freeloads off of society.

Cypress on 07/31/2010 21:25:46

Rasmussen,
First, I cannot speak for those "other commentators," however I know I work a 9 to 5 job and I do not have oodles of dough, but I do have private health insurance.

Second, while you might have taken a freshman level logic class, it is clear you have not educated yourself in principles of economics. The term "socialized" applies when a public policy takes resources (ie money) from a net tax payer and reallocates those resources to a net tax reciever. Both medicare and the new health care policy fall well within this definition (even Newsweek, probably the most liberal news outlet, accepts this definition).

Third, the sentence "many of whom ended up that way due to the greed and rapaciousness (by force, for those who do not know) of the fat cat capitalist pigs" is a series of logical fallicies, so I'm assuming you got a D in your freshman level logic class. You might want to look into retaking the course.

Fourth, because the United States attempts to seperate church and state, being "Christian" is an individual choice. Therefore, Christian goodwill is an individual liberty and should be left out of public policy.

I understand that your probably a first year humanities major and you surround yourself with people who use the term "capitalist pig" frequently. But here is a suggestion, before you start making public statements, at least attempt to pass a few classes and have a basic understanding of public policy first...

Vickie on 07/31/2010 21:26:10

The health care "reform" is nothing toward the cost of health care; it only loads more onto the backs of American taxpayers. It is crap and as favorable to big business as the banking bailout was to the wealthy. This is class warfare waged on the scant remaining middle class of this country. The Mexican situation is fuel on the fire, too.

road less travelled on 07/31/2010 21:31:51

Ah, the old "many of them don't deserve it" excuse. It's wonderful. If we have crooked cops, not too many people yell "get rid of all the cops!" But let one person get medicare or any government help they aren't supposed to get, or even if there MIGHT be any, then that's solid proof that we shouldn't let any poor people have any help at all.

Better to let thousands of children die than let one person get a benefit to which they are not entitled.

ca fait chaud a chier on 07/31/2010 21:42:56

Let he who is without government assistance cast the first Pell grant, GI Bill, or farm subsidy.

Gracchus on 07/31/2010 22:24:20

Get real...poor, middle or wealthy all utilize government handouts; just depends on what side of the street you live on and what you want to call them...government bids, special interests, PAC monies, subsidized healthcare, welfare, or Congress to name a few.

msgijoe on 07/31/2010 22:30:12

I think what Andy said was: "Try it, you might like it". And of course there was a chorus of "Mind your own business; this is our honey hole". In my experience this was a very common reaction when trying to help folks find a better market for their produce. Those folks screaming the loudest have a personal agenda in the financial aspects of medical reform.

Richard Wang on 07/31/2010 22:36:28

Government assistance is evil. Government help is a wicked redistribution of wealth. Is that what the right-wing, conservative "I've-got-mine-so-to-hell-with-you" piggies are oinking? Does that include cash bailouts for the banks, insurance companies, manufacturers, airlines, and wall street weasels? Or are they "exempt" from the "handouts-are-evil" rule because they make huge campaign contributions? And I'm supposing that tax breaks for the wealthy and big business are "exempt", too, under standard republican logic... Hmmm... logical fallacies and voodoo economics INDEED!

george diaz on 07/31/2010 22:55:20

Who cares what Andy or Sean Penn says or any of these ego inflated actors..oh so now they are experts in health care policy...grow up you all and to the writer of the piece..find something meaning ful to report on..not these Hollywood bozos!!!

Bob Roberts on 07/31/2010 23:16:59

Try getting your own insurance at 55 with a stint in your heart. I don't like the way Obama chose to address the insurance problems in this country, most of which are coded into bought and paid for law, but there was no political will for true reform. I can only hope it will help.

Rocky M. on 07/31/2010 23:36:02

You don't have a right to health care or a car or a house or food or water unless you pay for it with your own money! NOT MINE!

S Moore on 07/31/2010 23:38:09

I wonder how many how many of our socialist group have run a business for forty years? Made payroll, paid FICA, FUT,SUT,Medical Benefits, Compensation Insurance, with held both state and Federal taxes. Most likely they did not and further more did they make out hundreds of worthless reports as required by the various groups of government non-sense.

It is easy to spot a feeder. They are against the so called Fat-Cats. I say to them, hire several people and with these people make a good living for all.
Find out how much fun it is and the great government support you get.

hankster6 on 07/31/2010 23:54:51

I never, ever, thought that Andy would stoop to such a level as to back Obama's agenda!! I have always admired him as an actor. I really enjoyed his roles, but this is just unacceptable. I am a senior and look forward to NOT having proper care in the near future because of cuts and doctors not accepting us anymore because they don't make enough money. It makes no sense to me that Andy is pulling such a stunt unless he is getting paid in some fashion. I just don't understand!!

bman on 08/01/2010 01:06:56

the really cool part of HCR is the creation of a national data base which will allow gvmnt and pvt insurers a way to study what WORKS in medicine. a whole lot of money is being spent on bogus procedures and studies. I'm an MD with 21 yrs experience, and youl'd be amazed! medicine does not follwo the rules of hte freemarket, duh.

Denny on 08/01/2010 01:07:46

Andy, I love your show. I have watched it since I was a kid....but, I must admit, paring up with Obama......sucks! Sorry

kyleb on 08/01/2010 01:13:10

The bloated "Health Care Reform" bill is just a blank check. It's so broad and poorly defined it'll have to be interpreted as we go along. And those interpreters will hold the power of life and death over us. It's the single biggest loss of liberty in the history of the nation, and a minority of idiots are cheering it on.

Saltwater on 08/01/2010 01:15:43

The health care bill is not about providing health care for those who don't work. They already government-paid health care and all of us are already paying for that. This bill is for working people who can't afford health care or get kicked off of it in the current system ... because they get sick. It's about bringing some sense to a system that is the most expensive in the world yet has outcomes close to some third-world countries. Most of us are already paying at least partially for our health care as our employers, who can't afford the astromomical year over year increases, are passing through costs to us. And everyone using insurance is paying for other people's health care. That's how insurance works -- everyone pays into a pool and those who need it take some out. Look, Canada has universal health care and polls show Canadians overwhelmingly love it. They also have been virtually unaffected by the world recession. If you want to live in a country where raw capitalism rules: think Mexico. Which country do you admire more, Canada or Mexico? It should also be noted that both Denmark and Canada are countries whose citizens are among the happiest. Polling doesn't show that for Americans.

Mike on 08/01/2010 02:02:57

As a small business owner nothing pisses me off more than having to pay for my employees health care just so they will work for me. Who you work for decides how well your plan covers you. Government, whew baby you are hooked up. Wonder why so many companies are having a hard time. It's because they have to pay for health care for present and former employees. Wonder why the costs are out of control? The government has no skin in the game. If they did there is no way simple procedures would cost thousands of dollars. Small companies can't get the rates of larger companies because of their pool. Well that's easy to fix with a pool of hundreds of millions.
And to you stupid "socialist" fear mongers. socialism is not a bad thing. Try going to the library or public school. Oh, but you'll have to do it on your socialist road.
Now you call it entitlement programs. In my book they are entitled to health care if they are working to make this country a great place to live. I have people applying for work just for the benefits, they barely care about the wages. That is a sorry state of affairs in a country as great as ours. What you want is to hire illegals pay them crap, with no health care so you can have another summer home. You make me sick.

Kevin on 08/01/2010 02:03:54

The health care reform bill will do nothing to control costs. Our health care costs are a classic example of supply and demand. In the US, you have a shortage of doctors and nurses AND ballooning demand for services from an aging and entitled population. Until this fundamental problem is addressed, the rest is smoke and mirrors and now Andy Griffith.

Freedom on 08/01/2010 02:35:23

Growing up in the 60's and 70's I kept hearing that the government had no right to tell a woman what she could do with her body. This of course was in reference to the topic of abortion and it was a powerful political message in the country, however you view the issue. What ever happened to those women during the so-called health care debate. While abortion on demand is the law, now it is also the law that the government will be the arbitrator for the health care of the living. Where are the cries now for the government to keep their hands off our bodies and our medical records private. Will it take the failing health of your family or yourself to make you wish for times when you could seek what medical care is best for you?
Nothing is free, and those of us who aren't among the elite will all share in what will become a near third quality of health care, with the federal government to decide if and how much it can afford to invest in your sorry body. Be patient with them as well, as there will be a mountain of paperwork that will need to be sorted, reviewed, and submitted for approval by highly qualified "workers".
Poor Andy Griffith. This should be viewed as elder abuse. Thank God the Lone Ranger can't be used by the Obama administration.
May the Constitution become the law of the land again.

Kim on 08/01/2010 03:25:47

It is too bad that the Right Wing propogandists have sold their garbage to so many ignorant (and wanting to stay that way) people. I wish that people could think for themselves.
It is also too bad that we will lose the "Advantage Plans" that were an insurance industry rip-off. The original concept was that Private insurance companies could administer medicare better than the government - so we set up the Advantage Plans - sold by insurance companies (many participants didn't even understand this). Because they are so efficient (compared to government) they were given not 100%, but 95% of the per person cost to Medicare. It turns out that they couldn't hack it - so the Republican Congress raised that to 105% (meaning that they were less efficient than the government). Taking that 5% away from the Insurance industry is going to save us taxpayers more than $100 Billion. Boo Hoo for the Insurance industry. Hooray for the Taxpayers.
Just one of the good moves in the new health care law.

francis on 08/01/2010 03:31:08

This healthcare reform plan is great but it doesn't
go far enough we should have single payer
healthcare like Canada

John on 08/01/2010 03:57:27

Medicare is socialized medicine, and it has led the country into socialism. Why do you scoff at George H. W. Bush, Ms. Stockton, for his correct prediction?

Rick Cain on 08/01/2010 04:17:31

Nobody wants to admit that the problem is not health care, but HEALTH CARE INSURANCE. It is a for-profit vampire that sucks valuable health care dollars out of a system that can't afford to do so.

A long time ago all insurance was non-profit, administered by large employers who wanted to have a cheap way of implementing government mandated health care benefits.

Now its just a lamprey, damaging our country and making insurance companies billions while we all suffer, providers, doctors, patients, everybody.

mfab85 on 08/01/2010 04:27:56

hi all,
well i'm kind of driven to write a comment. I'm not from US so pardon me if I said anything inappropriate.

however as i lived in a country that provide free medical check-ups, medicine and stuff (excluding any so called expensive treatment and hospitallization) I find that the people of US (seeing your reaction to the new health care bill) is somewhat ignorant to the needs of others.
I'm really sorry for saying this but after destroying a country without UN mandate, or maybe 2 country if u want to include Afghanistan, at the expends of billions of dollar and cost millions of life lost, and being one at the heart of the economic breakdown that covers the whole world,that disrupt the whole financial system, I mean, I find it really hard to believe you guys still as ignorant as ever.

pardon me if i ask this but do u inspire to jeapordize people lives? or do u take life for granted? as i understand, the bill was meant to take care of all of your health care as it provides universal health care for each and every citizen of your OWN country. So if you can use billions of money to DESTROY OTHER countries, why are you so skeptical when HELPING YOUR OWN countrymen.

If you ask me, I beginning to wonder whether NAZI is better or not. at least they appreciate their own countrymen while butchering other people. but you guys do both. i wonder why.

but then again I'm sorry if i interrupt your so-called "INTELLIGENT" arguments. for me, instead of saying NO to everything, I did use my resources to make sure the bill succeed in the right way. not condemn every little thing

v E Debs on 08/01/2010 04:33:04

Andy Griffith is not one to lie about anything. I he thinks it is all right it is all right.Tom has it right. That is what the bill does. Read it all of it. Don't just make up things like right wing racists and that has been proven. Oh yes when this takes place you will be seeing people droping out of there big corporation policies by the thousands. Then the next step will be Universal single payer, by far the best and most economical.That is a no brainer.

Scott Green on 08/01/2010 04:39:22

That’s the American can do spirit Andy, but please don’t stop with universal heath care, show us how to increase the civility in our political discourse, significantly pare down our military budget, stop waste and abuse in the Medicare program, simplify our tax code, maximize our use of technology to make the delivery of needed governmental services more efficient and transparent, find better alternatives to incarcerating so many people, humanize our prison system to reduce the rate of recidivism, expand access to rehabilitation clinics for drug addicts, develop environmentally friendly alternative sources of energy, create more mass transit, improve our education system, increase the pay and respect for teachers, provide universal access to early childhood education, get religion out of politics, exercise more, improve our nutrition, increase access to college and vocational schools, treat the weakest among us with the same respect we give to the strongest, value all life, teach us to quit whining and get back to believing in ourselves again

webbsight on 08/01/2010 11:53:15

Cypress, your lecture to Rasmussen which I hope is informative to him doesn't address reasonable concerns he alludes to with regard to capitalism. Are we so enamored with our freedom to pursue wealth it trumps all other ambitions we might have. It might be that something the government deliberates socializing might actually be harmonius with what we deem important or might be worthy of having its benefit felt by all. Yes, the church and state are and should remain separate. Ethics and morality should not join religion in its departure from the state. Sometimes acting justly is good public policy which may coincide with how one chooses to live or what his or her spiritual advisor has asked of them. In addition, there is nothing wrong with what is just preceding what is most profitable or has the highest ratio of cost benefit. Sometimes ethical consideration is absent from public policy which must not happen if the political man's purpose is to be for the sake of the economic man effectively.

Ed H on 08/02/2010 02:19:23

I like Andy Griffith and STILL watch the old show. But Medicare is going bankrupt and so will the rest of the health care system unless we tweak the changes coming in 2014.

rich on 08/02/2010 04:29:02

Barney and Floyd the barber will run the program......

cs on 08/02/2010 16:59:12

The government is spending the future of the children of this country on people who have taken theirs, and now want others to pay for their bad behavior in their youth and middle age.

Just as a man will not seek employment when given a check for being idle - so shall people abuse their health when given care they percieve is free.

I am not against charity for the poor - but the system is broken. Health insurance should not be the payee - the people should. Help should be given ONLY to the poorest, with scaled help given based on need. Most don't really have a need for handouts.

If you want to fix the system - you take insurance out of the equation, and stop the entitlements. But that would hurt the real beneficaries - career politicians, who buy your vote with trinkets and beads.

br549 on 08/03/2010 01:17:17

We should all pay for our own health care instead of someone else's health insurance.

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