By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
c.2010 New York Times News Service
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and his allies, concerned about deep skepticism over his landmark health care overhaul, are orchestrating an elaborate campaign to sell the public on the law, including a new tax-exempt group that will spend millions of dollars on advertising to beat back attacks on the measure and Democrats who voted for it.
Americans will see the first evidence of the public relations offensive on Tuesday, when Obama travels to Wheaton, Md., to conduct a nationally televised question-and-answer session with older citizens to trumpet one of the law’s most popular features: $250 rebate checks to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs.
The timing is no accident; the first batch of checks will be mailed on Thursday. But it is only an early hint of what is to come throughout the summer and fall, officials say, as other consumer-friendly provisions – a high-risk pool for hard-to-insure people, a website comparing coverage plans, tough new restrictions on insurers – take effect.