Andy Griffith is helping President Obama push his legendary healthcare reform law. You can watch the short TV ad below. Griffith's new TV spot will help to sell seniors on Medicare provisions in the healthcare reform law. Our previous report has been updated:
Polls show a majority of U.S. seniors are skeptical of healthcare reform and The White House has enlisted Griffith to help reach this key demographic. The administration is buying $700,000 worth of cable television advertising time for commercials featuring actor Andy Griffith talking up the included benefits, Politico reported.
"With the new healthcare law, more good things are coming -- free checkups, lower prescription costs and better ways to protect us and Medicare from fraud," Griffith says in the 30-second spot, which premiered Friday as part of a Medicare open enrollment campaign that will continue through December.
Seniors are the demographic most skeptical of the new health reform law, polls have shown. Forty-six percent of seniors surveyed viewed the law unfavorably, compared with 38 percent who viewed it favorably, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found.
Just over one-third believe that the law will "allow a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare," the poll indicated.
Republicans called the cable spot a "slick taxpayer-funded ad" that did not mention health reform's reductions in spending on Medicare Advantage plans.
"Americans never wanted this bill," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, "and they're reminded every day why they opposed it in the first place."
You can watch the ad here:
