There will be plenty of jokes, stunts and celebrity appearances in the commercials airing during Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday (February 11). But a star-studded commercial will also serve up a spoonful of hard sugar with A-list drugs courtesy of Grammy nominees Jelly Roll and Valerie June and this year's Best Country Album Grammy winner Lainey Wilson.
“Hospitals and insurers are robbing us all,” Wilson says in a 30-second ad set to air Sunday during the big game in Washington, D.C., and other select markets. “100 million Americans are drowning in medical debt,” adds Jelly Roll to the point from Power to the Patients, a group founded in 2001 that said the goal of the high-profile ad is to “force hospitals and insurance companies across the country to publish real prices for their services and procedures up front rather than charging patients after the fact.”
The trio then goes on to say that when hospitals and insurers don't show their prices, they can charge patients whatever they want. “Their greed is destroying the American dream,” adds Jelly, who last month joined Fat Joe and Wyclef Jean at aPower to the Patients event in Washington, DC to advocate for fair billing to a group of 500 government officials and members of Congress.
“We're looking to our elected officials in Congress to stop over-indebtedness,” June and Wilson say in the PSA, in which the trio appear in front of a white background, the camera zooming in on their faces. A statement next to the ad notes that federal rules require hospitals and insurers to publish the rates, though the agency claims that three years after the rules went into effect, only 36 percent of hospitals are in full compliance.
He also notes that a bipartisan group of Senators introduced legislation in December aimed at strengthening and expanding health care price transparency requirements and empowering patients, employers, unions and workers to shop for “right care, protect against overuse and reduce the cost of care and coverage.”
The spot will air during Sunday's game between the defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, with Usher headlining the halftime show. the race starts at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Watch the Power to the Patients Super Bowl LVIII ad below.
