The Connecticut Hospital Association has launched its largest media campaign in more than three decades to block millions of dollars in state budget cuts, according to a Hartford Courant report.
Here are six things to know about the campaign.
1. The campaign is using television, radio, newspaper and Internet advertising. It includes 60-second radio advertisements, as well as 30- and 60-second television commercials.
2. In one 30-second television commercial currently playing on Connecticut stations, a mother contends her son might not be able to get the care he needs if the state makes further cuts, according to the report. She pleads with Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) to "reconsider what you're doing with these cuts."
3. Additionally, an ad campaign has been running for about a month, and the Connecticut Hospital Association has created a website called StopTheCutsNow.org.
4. The campaign comes after Gov. Malloy announced in September he would make more than $63 million in new cuts to hospital Medicaid payments. The Medicaid cuts are part of more than $102 million the governor plans to trim from the state's budget. Then in October, the governor restored $14 million in funding to six small hospitals in the state after receiving increasing criticism from hospitals and legislators over proposed budget cuts.
5. In recent weeks, as the media campaign has continued, Connecticut legislators and Gov. Malloy have been working to close the state's budget deficit, projected at $552 million for next fiscal year, as lawmakers seek to reduce the hospital cuts, according to the report. The talks are scheduled to continue Dec. 2.
6. Hospital officials did not disclose the amount of money being spent on the campaign.
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