Online ads lure some to send healthcare opinions to lawmakers

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People seeking free gift cards and merchandise online are being steered to pages inviting them to e-mail Congress about President Obama’s push to reshape the country’s health system.
In one instance, people looking for rewards were taken to a Web page run by Get Health Reform Right, a coalition of 10 insurance industry groups that oppose the overhaul effort. That page, which was suspended Thursday evening, let reform opponents quickly generate a letter to Congress.

Others applying for gifts ended up on a Web page of the American Medical Assn.’s Patients’ Action Network, where they could express support to lawmakers for expanding healthcare coverage.

The ads could give the impression that someone has to send an e-mail to Congress to get free goods. But based on fine print in the ads, it appears that sending the e-mails was optional and would not affect whether people receive the gifts they are seeking.
Officials of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Assn., which runs the insurance coalition, expressed surprise over the ads and said it had nothing to do with them. The coalition temporarily suspended its operations “until the source of these ads can be determined,” the officials said.

The American Medical Assn. did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.

The ads attracting letter writers with incentives, first reported by Gawker.com, were provided to a reporter by Dan Porter, chief executive of OMGPOP, which runs a website for multiplayer games.
The ads are aimed at people seeking a reward, such as a gift certificate to a retail chain, that they would receive after providing their e-mail addresses and other information. Such ads could also be aimed at people who play online games and would like to earn virtual currency they can use to purchase items they can use in games, Porter said.

— Associated Press