Nursing home lobby pulls controversial budget ads

The Ohio Health Care Association, which represents the state’s nursing homes, has announced plans to pull a controversial ad they had been running that harshly criticized Gov. John Kasich for cutting nursing home funds in his budget proposal (Source: “Lobby for nursing homes pulls anti-Kasich ads,” Columbus Dispatch, May 13, 2011).

The association representing 750 nursing homes and residential-care facilities began airing the ads last Friday to protest plans to cut state aid to the facilities by $427 million during the next two years.

The 30-second spot drew criticism not only from the Governor but also AARP Ohio. The ad begins with a frail, elderly woman in bed and a picture of Gov. John Kasich in the foreground. It concludes with a condemnation of the "Kasich cuts," a hand pulling a plug out of the wall, a flat-lined EKG, and the message to call your state senator "before it's too late."

"We are pulling the ads as soon as we can because the legislators asked us to. They said they weren't helpful," said Peter Van Runkle, executive director of the Ohio Health Care Association, which paid for the commercial.

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