Massive Spending On Anti-Obamacare Ads

If you feel that you are being bombarded by political ads about Obamacare, and most, are negative, you are right according to a new study showing that spending on negative ads was fifteen times spending on ads supporting the Affordable Care Act:

A new analysis finds the nation’s health care overhaul deserves a place in advertising history as the focus of extraordinarily high spending on negative political TV ads that have gone largely unanswered by the law’s supporters.

The report, released Friday by nonpartisan analysts Kantar Media CMAG, estimates that $445 million was spent on political TV ads mentioning the law since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Spending on negative ads outpaced positive ones by more than 15 to 1.

The ads have also kept the fact checkers busy, as they frequently contained false information regarding matters such as the cost of plans obtained on the exchanges. Often it turned out that the people showed in the ads could actually receive health coverage at a lower cost than claimed in the ads, and had plans available to them which their current doctor participated in.

Much of the misinformation being spread was paid for by the Koch brothers via their group, Americans for Prosperity. While it is undoubtedly an intentionally negative view, Huffington Post reported on revelations in a new book on the Koch brothers,  Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America’s Most Powerful and Private Dynasty.