The following Truth Test looks at a 30-second ad paid for by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and a group called Families USA. PhRMA represents the nation's largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies whose mission, according to its Web site, is "to conduct effective advocacy for public policies that encourage discovery of important new medicines for patients." (Source: http://www.phrma.org/about_phrma/)

Families USA, a consumer advocate for the two decades, describes itself as a "national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans." (Source: http://www.familiesusa.org/about/)

The two groups joined together in April to push for three components in any health care reform: expanding access to Medicaid, sliding-scale subsidies to moderate-income people who earn too much for Medicaid but who can't afford insurance and a "meaningful cap" on out-of-pocket expenses. (Source: Reuters, April 21)

The groups will run the commercial 55 times on the networks of 9NEWS at a cost of $53,225. The overall ad campaign has encompassed spots on national cable networks as well as in other states and was described by the groups as being a "multimillion-dollar" campaign. (Source: Politico, June 30: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24384.html)

QUOTE: Washington, where partisan gridlock can keep things from happening. Fortunately, Colorado has Mark Udall and Michael Bennet working with Democrats and Republicans toward consensus: Bi-partisan health care reform.

TRUTH: This is an opinion that depends on your political leanings. Neither Colorado senator has taken a stand on any current piece of health care legislation currently before Congress, but both have expressed a desire to pass health care reform legislation this year with certain conditions.

As Udall told 9NEWS and YOUR SHOW on Aug. 23, "You've got to contain costs. It has to be paid for. You've got to require insurance companies to play fair. And Americans have to have choice." (Source: www.9News.com/yourshow)

As Bennet told northern Colorado business leaders last week, "Do I believe that this will lower costs, or at least lower the rate of rise? Do I believe this will lead us to a place where we're spending less of our GDP on health care and more of it on stuff we all care about? Do I believe that it will restore the country to fiscal wellness? And do I believe it's going to get us focused on outcomes-based medicine that's focused more on prevention and more on primary care? If the bill does that, whether it has a public option in it or whether it doesn't have a public option in it, whether it's got a co-op or it doesn't have it, I'll vote for it. If it doesn't, I'm going to have a hard time voting for it." (Source: Fort Collins Coloradoan, Aug. 21: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090821/NEWS01/908210317/Bennet++Reforming+health+care++budget+go+hand+in+hand)

QUOTE: Fighting to make health care more affordable.

TRUTH: Both senators have expressed to 9NEWS how the current health care system is "broken" and how the status quo of double-digit cost increases for Americans is unacceptable. (Source: Udall on YOUR SHOW, Aug. 23, Bennet on YOUR SHOW, July 12: http://www.9news.com/yourshow/archive.aspx)

Neither of Colorado's senators is on the Senate Health Committee which already has passed a measure or the Senate Finance Committee which is negotiating a bipartisan bill among its members. (Source: Udall's Senate Web site: http://markudall.senate.gov/?p=committee_assignments, Bennet's Senate Web Site: http://bennet.senate.gov/about/committees/)

Both signed a letter with seven other freshman senators to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), who is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the leading negotiator on the topic, encouraging his efforts. The letter complimented Baucus and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) for their efforts on the subject and read, "We stand ready to serve and to help you and the Senate Finance Committee to craft a bill that bends the healthcare cost curve, provides affordable coverage, and rewards value-added services... We hear daily from our constituents about this issue; many of them are concerned that we are not doing enough to control costs. We strongly urge the Senate Finance Committee to continue to remain centered on realigning incentives to stabilize healthcare costs." (Source: The Hill, July 23: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/freshman-senators-back-baucus-on-healthcare-2009-07-23.html)

QUOTE: Help close the Medicare doughnut hole without raising premiums on seniors who have drug coverage.

TRUTH: This is true.

Both Udall and Bennet have expressed support for the deal President Barack Obama made with the funders of this commercial, PhRMA, earlier this summer, to close the so-called doughnut hole in Medicare. (Source: Phone conversations with Udall Communications Director Tara Trujillo and Bennet spokeswoman Deirdre Murphy on Aug. 26)

There is a standard defined benefit under the Medicare Part D prescription drug program which has a cap. Between that cap and when catastrophic coverage kicks in under the plan, the Medicare participant is responsible for 100 percent of the cost of prescription drugs. The federal government calls it a "coverage gap," but the term doughnut hole is used by many politicians. It impacts roughly one in every four Part D enrollees. It means some seniors who have a simple co-pay earlier in the year, when they reach the limit, are forced to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars out of pocket for the same drugs later in the year. (Source: AARP: www.aarp.org)

The deal between the administration and PhRMA calls for the Medicare participants to pay 50 percent of the cost of brand-name medications in the doughnut hole instead of the 100 percent they pay now. The drug manufacturers "agreed to donate half the cost of their brand-name and biologic products (but not generic drugs) to people in the gap, at no cost to the government," according to the AARP Bulletin. That is expected to cost the drug industry around $80 billion over the next decade. (Source: White House News Release: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-the-Medicare-Part-D-Doughnut-Hole-and-AARP-Endorsement/. AARP Bulletin Today: http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/medicare/articles/obama_reveals_plans.html)

QUOTE: And make sure no one can be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition.

TRUTH: Bennet's principles on health care reform include "insurance security that covers people when they change jobs and never denies people coverage based on pre-existing conditions." (Source: Bennet Senate Web site: http://bennet.senate.gov/issues/issue/?id=4b32cf00-ce00-4601-91b0-05534845f680)

Trujillo told 9NEWS Udall wants to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. (Source: Phone conversation, Aug. 26) Udall told YOUR SHOW on Aug. 23 that any health care reform should "require insurance companies to play fair." (Source: YOUR SHOW, www.9news.com/yourshow, Aug. 23 with Sen. John McCain)

Both senators also told Denver Post columnist Vincent Carroll in separate interviews that health care should be "provided without regard to pre-existing conditions." (Source: Denver Post, Aug. 22: www.denverpost.com)

QUOTE: Call Senators Udall and Bennet today. Tell them to keep fighting until we get the job done.

TRUTH: This is opinion.