HHS Using Taxpayer Funds for a CLASS Act “Branding Program”
Today comes word that HHS has released two contract solicitations relating to the CLASS Act. One involves “promoting long-term care awareness,” and the second “is to develop a strategic brand” for the CLASS program. The amounts of these contracts have yet to be publicly disclosed, but the latter contract regarding “strategic branding” is being funded from the $1 billion implementation “slush fund” included in Obamacare.
At a time when the federal government faces trillion-dollar deficits, it’s questionable enough that the federal government is spending yet more money on Obamacare publicity efforts, following a string of wasteful expenses:
- $26 million in grants to Ogilvy Public Relations included in the “stimulus” to establish a “Publicity Center”
- $18 million to send a mailing to seniors purportedly touting the “benefits” of Obamacare to seniors. The Government Accountability Office found that the mailer – which was NOT reviewed or approved by the non-partisan Medicare actuary for its accuracy – “overstates some of [the law’s] benefits” and “presents a picture of [the law] that is not universally shared.”
- $3 million in taxpayer funds to run an ad campaign in which Andy Griffith took on the role of “pitching President Barack Obama’s health care law to seniors.” The non-partisan factcheck.org concluded that the ads used “weasel words” to mislead seniors about the impact of the health care law.
- Millions more in taxpayer funds to fund 4 million postcards promoting Obamacare’s small business tax credit
What’s even worse is that even Secretary Sebelius has admitted the CLASS Act is “totally unsustainable” in its current form. Even Senate Democrats have called it a “Ponzi scheme of the first order.” Yet all these questions about the program’s solvency and sustainability are not dissuading HHS from committing more taxpayer dollars to an effort to “sell” the CLASS Act to the public.
But if HHS insists on running ads and developing a brand surrounding the CLASS Act, the Department need not waste precious taxpayer dollars doing so. After all, Bernie Madoff isn’t scheduled to be released from federal prison until November 2139; until then, he should have plenty of time to provide the Department with all the “branding development” advice it needs.