Health-Care Group Hires Hollywood Agent
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The health-care industry, tired of playing the bad guy in movies such as “John Q” and TV shows such as “ER” and “Chicago Hope,” has hired an agent to help get better roles.
The American Assn. of Health Plans, which represents more than 1,000 health maintenance organizations, has signed with the William Morris Agency.
The AAHP said it wants to offer producers expertise on such issues as medical privacy and bioterrorism, but does not want or expect veto power over stories.
“What we’re trying to do is get a level playing field. We’re not saying it’s verboten to attack some part of the health-care system. We’re saying there is another side to what we do,” Mark Merritt, senior vice president of the AAHP, said Tuesday.
Movies and TV shows in recent years have portrayed dedicated doctors fighting heartless hospital administrators and bean-counting insurance companies.
Earlier this year, “John Q,” starring Denzel Washington, told the story of a father who cannot afford a heart transplant for his son and holds an emergency room hostage.
Instead of attacking the film, the AAHP bought ads deflecting the focus of anger from insurance plans to “a runaway litigation system and expensive government regulations.”
Financial terms of the hiring of the agency were not disclosed.
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