Ad claims people may 'die' because of budget

One of the latest political ads is from the Greater Wisconsin Committee , a group aligned with Democratic causes that is supporting the recall of Republican Governor Scott Walker.

The ad focuses on cuts to the state's health programs for the poor. But there's one part the ad that struck some of our viewers as a bit over the top:

"There are sick people who are probably going to die because they no longer have health care," says an unidentified woman in the ad.

We asked the Greater Wisconsin Committee to substantiate that claim. The group's executive director Michelle McGrorty declined our request for an interview but in a statement said:

"When 65,000 people are threatened to lose their health care, most of whom are from the lowest socio-economic groups, it is reasonable for someone to have an opinion that people could die by lacking health care."

McGrorty goes on to say: "The statement is a personal opinion from a person on the street about what she thinks the consequences of such a policy would likely be. That is how it is presented to viewers and there is no attempt to suggest this is a study or an expert's opinion."

So what do the experts have to say?

We contacted the Wisconsin Medical Society . Vice-president of government relations Mark Grapentine said: "There's really no way to scientifically measure whether such a statement is accurate or not."

We also contacted Dr. Howard Croft, the past president of the Wisconsin chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians . He told me: "People may not die but I think it has the potential to diminish the quality of life for many Wisconsinites."

Croft says many people will just end up going to the emergency room because there is a federal law that requires emergency departments to see and evaluate everyone.

Meanwhile, Republicans don't care for the ad. Walker's campaign says:

"False attacks from special interest groups do not distract from the fact that Governor Walker's budget increased funding for Medicare programs by $1.2 billion to ensure aid for Wisconsin's most vulnerable citizens. That is the most state revenue dedicated to Medicaid programs in Wisconsin's history."

While it is true that Walker's budget increased spending for Medicaid programs, it did not increase it enough to cover the program's expected growth. The Department of Health Services says to do that, the state would've had to spend $1.8 billion. To make up for the shortfall, the state proposed some changes to the programs, like increasing premiums and decreasing benefits.

We'll continue to dig deeper in the ads on both sides throughout the recall campaign.

• Click here for a piece on some ads from the Walker campaign.