UPDATED BCBSA Statement on Get Health Reform Right Coalition
December 12, 2009
WASHINGTON – The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association issued the following statement regarding the Get Health Reform Right coalition:
The coalition members of Get Health Reform Right have recently learned that unauthorized ads claiming to be from the coalition appeared on certain social networks in an effort to incentivize individuals to contact their elected officials.
Get Health Reform Right does not pay or incentivize people in any way to communicate to Congress their opposition to government-run healthcare. Under the terms of the contract with the advertising network, the use of incentivized ads is strictly prohibited.
Some media outlets and organized coalitions have suggested that the Get Health Reform Right Coalition was responsible for incentivized ads.
To be very clear: the coalition has never and would never engage advertisers in these practices. Such activities are neither condoned nor authorized by Get Health Reform Right. The coalition is currently working with outside legal counsel to determine the origin of the unauthorized advertising and to assess appropriate legal avenues.
Get Health Reform Right is a project of organizations whose shared mission is to ensure consumers continue to have access to employer-sponsored health plans.
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 39 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for nearly 100 million members - one-in-three Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit www.BCBS.com.
