TV ads focused on health care issues — including transgender care, abortion and costs — ricocheted across the airwaves in the months leading up to election day. Erika Franklin Fowler, Ph.D., is a co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political ads. She joins “Conversations on Health Care” to discuss a controversial anti-transgender surgery ad from the Republicans that also benefited from free media attention, as well as House and Senate candidates picking up on similar themes in their advertising.
Preliminary numbers show $4.5 billion was spent on political TV and radio ads this year. These ads and their messages reflect the goals of President Trump and his new administration as they plan a return to power in the nation’s capital. Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter discuss the TV ad wars and their implications for health care policy with Dr. Franklin Fowler.
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