Changing Their Role This past Monday I sent you an e-Alert ("Going Hollywood" 8/12/02) about the new scheme drug companies have dreamed up to advertise their products. With more and more frequency these days we see celebrities on TV talk shows who are helping to "raise awareness" about a disease or disorder that can be medicated with a prescription drug which just happens to be made by the company who has paid the celebrity to do the awareness raising. It's a clever way to sneak a commercial in between the commercials. It seems that insurance companies have noticed what the drug companies are up to, and now they want to put the star system to work for their industry as well. As noted in the New York Times piece from last Sunday ("Heartfelt Advice, Hefty Fees") insurance reps are tired of being portrayed as the bad guys. From movies like "John Q." (where Denzel Washington plays the part of a dad who holds a hospital hostage when insurance problems prevent his son from getting a heart transplant) to television shows like "Law & Order" (where another dad - whose insurer won't pay for his daughter's leukemia treatment - murders an insurance executive), the insurance game provides a steady stream of villains. Last June, the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP) - a trade group that represents hundreds of insurers - hired the William Morris agency to help them convince Hollywood that they are not profit-hungry ghouls who eat their young. Mark Merritt, senior vice president of AAHP, told the Times, "We want to sit down with writers and producers of shows with health-care content and get a fair hearing for our side of the story." Pitching and selling an idea in Hollywood is a hard nut to crack. But this one could be a hilariously tough sell, even by Hollywood's difficult standards. I'll keep an eye out and let you know if I see any promos for a new show called "ICI - Insurance Claim Investigation." To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
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