Republican senators question $20 million public relations campaign promoting the Affordable Care Act
Republican lawmakers are angry that $20 million in preventive health funding was spent on a public relations campaign for the Affordable Care Act.
When it was reported in late May that the Department of Health and Human Services spent $20 million on a campaign to promote benefits of the healthcare reform act, Senate Republicans were quick to criticize the expense. According to a report from The Hill, the funds were drawn from HHS' preventive health fund.
In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget, Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Mike Johanns (R-NE) demanded to know why the prevention fund was tapped, and requested that President Obama cancel its public relations contract. The lawmakers suggested the money should have been used to keep student loan interests down.
Nursing home groups have a stake in the student loan interest rate debate as GOP lawmakers have proposed lowering the provider tax threshold as a means of paying for a cut in loan rates. The American Health Care Association argues that this proposal would cut into needed revenue for nursing homes.
