Value Claim Essay

Bandwagon Propaganda in Healthcare Politics

Do you know where the term bandwagon comes from? It started in the 1800s when
political candidates would draw in crowds with music and performances on wagons. Soon other
politicians saw how effective this method was and jumped on the bandwagon themselves
(Shabo, 18). Today, the phrase is used in more than just political situations, but is still utilized in
that sense.
The modern day Affordable Care Act is bandwagon propaganda that will force taxpayers
to contribute to the system, or be unfairly fined. There are many instances where the media is
being used to send messages about the benefits of ObamaCare. The public is, without
researching this information for themselves, jumping on the bandwagon so to speak, with these
ideas. If an individual did some investigating for the same facts they see in advertisements, he or
she would come to realize the data is usually only half of the story and is presented in the favor
of the officials who want everyone to sign up for the flawed healthcare reform. There are experts
on the subject who agree that The Affordable Care Act has many issues that need to be resolved,
including things that affect all Americans: healthy, sick, wealthy, poor, old or young. This
attempt at a healthcare reform is unjust to Americans, so before accepting its ideas, people need
to explore and study the facts.
First, what is bandwagon propaganda? Bandwagon is defined as: A popular activity,
effort, cause, etc., that attracts growing support. In Donna Woolfolk Crosss essay,


Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled she says that it is also a type of propaganda in which
the majority of the people follow or accept the popular action or viewpoint. That may be okay in
many instances, such as getting numerous people to sign a petition that will stop the demolition
of a building that could otherwise be put to good use for housing the homeless. But in some
circumstances, propaganda is just a way of tricking others into supporting your cause. In the
essay by Woolfolk Cross, an example of the Lemmings is used:
Lemmings are artic rodents with a very odd habit:
periodically, for reasons no one entirely knows, they mass together
in a large herd and commit suicide by rushing into deep water and
drowning themselves. They all run together, blindly, and not one of
them ever seems to stop and ask, Why am I doing this? Is this really
what I want to do? and thus save itself from destruction. (Woolfolk
Cross, 154)
The Lemmings are on the bandwagon so to speak, they follow each other to their
deaths, for no reason and never ask why they are doing it. Now imagine the reason they drown
themselves is because of a false or exaggerated idea that would help a leader or system. Then,
the Lemmings would be the victims of bandwagon propaganda. Being led with extravagant
manipulations and falsehoods, by popular ideas, statements, and even people, to believe you are
supporting something good, or helpful is bandwagon propaganda. This is exactly what is
occurring with The Affordable HealthCare Act. Popular support, including that of movie and
television stars, of the reform is causing the public to assume it is a noble and well-organized


cause. When, in fact, the public themselves will reap the consequences associated with
ObamaCare.
Americans are being bombarded with information about The Affordable Care Act, but
somehow, they are still only getting half the story. They are being told by celebrities, politicians,
commercials, and advertisements that it will have a positive affect and give everyone healthcare
for a lower rate but the affects so far are not positive, and the future is not looking good either.
The Affordable Care Act was signed on March 23, 2010 by Barack Obama and was
deemed ObamaCare by the public. This system promises to provide healthcare for all
Americans, but what it really does is require all Americans to get healthcare or pay a fee, that
increases every year, if they do not. The website for the Act tells visitors that the fee will
sometimes be referred to using jargon like, individual responsibility payment, individual
mandate, or penalty making it more difficult for the public to understand (Healthcare.gov). To
make up for this, they hired many television stars and movie actors to be spokespeople for the
health care act. According to The New American, California officials used taxpayers dollars,
adding up to nearly $1 million dollars, to promote ObamaCare on popular TV shows such as
Modern Family, Greys Anatomy and a few drama shows on Spanish-Language channels. There
was even talk of developing a reality show based on a family and their struggles of living
without healthcare (Newman). As popular people, sites, and shows are telling the public that
ObamaCare is a great innovation and they should wholehearted support it, people are not
checking the facts for themselves and just going along with it because they choose to believe and
not inspect.


If they do decide to research this topic for themselves, they would find out many things
they might not like. There are many ideas in The Affordable Care Act that are going to affect
countless people. The first is that all big companies will be required to give their full-time
employees healthcare or pay a fine. So more than likely, instead of covering their full-time
employees, they will decide to cut their hours and all those hard working people will make less
money. Or the companies might just pay the fine, which is a lot cheaper than paying for all that
insurance and therefore, have uncovered employees. If that turns out to be the case, all those
people who thought they would not have to worry about buying healthcare because they were
going to get it through work, will now either have to pay for their own coverage, or pay the fee
associated with not having any (Troy).
So why dont they just pay for insurance, the act states it is cheaper now, right? You
might ask, and Tevi Troy, who wrote the article, The Three Failed Promises of ObamaCare
can tell you why.
On numerous occasions, President Obama promised that
his reforms would reduce the cost of premiums by $2,500 for a
family of four. This is not going to be the case. Using the same
methodology that Obama used to come up with the $2,500 figure,
health-care expert Avik Roy (working with Chris Conover) found
that costs per family of four would increase by $7,450 by 2022.
Furthermore, the cost hikes in certain states are going to be far
worse, including a 41 percent increase in average premiums for


Ohioans in 2014, a 72 percent increase for Indianans, and a
whopping 198 percent increase for Georgians. That figure is
clearly an outlier; a recent Manhattan Institute analysis shows an
overall average increase of 41 percent. Whatever that is, its not a
$2,500 decrease (Troy).
It seems that various statements made in the healthcare reform proposal are not panning out as
planned. One of the biggest points being seen as a falsehood of the act is that people can keep
their existing plan if they wanted to. Many Americans are receiving notifications that their health
insurance plans have been cancelled due to ObamaCare. This disproves the idea that was
originally presented in the Affordable HealthCare Act, they are being allowed to keep their
plans, because the plans do not meet the requirements that are being changed to fit new ideas and
not the old ones that were made and approved by the government and accepted by the people.
None of these problems would be happening if bandwagon propaganda had not been used on
people. They should be able to make their own decisions, without the help of celebrities and
search engines.
So how can any of this be fair? All of the facts stack up to be the opposite; commercials
that use taxpayer money to not have Americans best interest in mind, public figures telling
viewers what to believe, doctors who think ObamaCare will not turn out well for anyone, and
examples of how The Affordable Care Act has and will have affect on everyone. In order for
these things to change and progress into the future, the American people need to stop jumping
on the bandwagon and do their own exploration into subjects that are presented to them. Do not
be a follower of the popular opinion, remember to ask the questions the Lemmings did not;


Why am I doing this? Will this benefit me? Is this what I really want to do? When all of these
ideas are put together, hopefully the negative side of the bandwagon approach will be easier to
recognize and laid to rest so Americans can make their own decisions without help or
coercion.

















WORKS CITED
Healthcare.gov. U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014
Newman, Alex. Taxpayers to Fund Hollywood ObamaCare Propaganda. The New American.
The New American Mag., 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Shabo, Magedah E. Chapter 2: Bandwagon. Techniques of Propaganda and Persuasion. Eds.
Paul Moliken, Darlene Gilmore, Sally Wein. Smyrna: Prestwick House Inc., 2008. 18-23.
Print.
Troy, Tevi. The Three Failed Promises of ObamaCare. Commentary. Commentary Mag., 01
Dec. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Woolfolk Cross, Donna. Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled. Language Awareness:
Readings for College Writers. Eds. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, Virginia Clark. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 149-159. Print.