Power to the Patients is back with another PSA about healthcare price transparency just in time for Super Bowl LVIII.
The 30-second PSA will air during the big game on Sunday and features rapper Jelly Roll, country music artist Lainey Wilson and singer-songwriter Valerie June, as they call on lawmakers to pass legislation that strengthens healthcare price transparency.
“Hospitals and insurers are robbing all of us,” Wilson says at the start of the video.
“100 million Americans drowning in medical debt,” the stars continue. “When hospitals and insurers don’t show their prices, they charge us whatever they want. Their greed is destroying the American dream.”
The trio called on Congress to “put a stop to the over-charging, empower us with real prices, and hold hospitals and insurance companies responsible.”
The ad will air on television and digital platforms in Washington, DC, during the Super Bowl and the campaign will also have planes pulling banners over Las Vegas.
June, who herself has type 1.5 diabetes — or latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA) — noted in a statement that she has experienced the burden of high healthcare costs without adequate price transparency.
“That bill from the emergency room alone was $30K and I didn’t even get admitted,” she said of her own personal experience. “Then the bills just kept coming. I found myself in a situation where I physically couldn’t work… Transparency is key so we are able to make informed choices and choose what is the best situation individually about our care and to ensure that we are not being overcharged.”
Wilson added in a statement that Americans in need of care are afraid to enter a hospital and pressed lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass legislation that presents patients with actual prices and true transparency in healthcare.
In a press release, Power to the Patients noted the PSA is the latest in a larger, ongoing campaign that focuses on healthcare price transparency.
Just two weeks ago, the organization unveiled a different 30-second video that focused on the “ridiculousness” of hidden prices in the healthcare industry. That ad — dubbed Estimates are Bull*** — featured scenes in which a hardware store, salons and other shops claim “estimated prices” that turn out to be much higher after the service.
“This latest PSA attacks the ongoing and wholly unethical absurdity of hospitals and insurers rigging our entire healthcare system by concealing their prices in order to maximize profits,” said Kevin Morra, co-founder of Power to the Patients, at the time.
Earlier this year, hip hop stars Wyclef Jean and Fat Joe teamed up with Jelly Roll for a Washington, DC, event that focused on price transparency.
