Edgy Ads Aim To Sell Health Insurance To Young People
By Robin Erb, Detroit Free Press | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Now, the
-- Navigating health care reform: A guide to the Affordable Care Act
Some feature edgy, even funny ads, such as those in the "
"OMG, he's hot!" reads another, under a young woman named "Suzie." She holds a packet of pills while she stands next to "Nate." "Let's hope he's as easy to get as this birth control."
Premiums from younger, healthier people help offset the costs of older, sicker beneficiaries in insurance pools. Insurers are tracking the demographics of their insurance pools closely, and some worry that without enough young people, premiums will climb in the coming years.
By
The clock is ticking.
With few exceptions, anyone who hasn't purchased coverage by
That means the last-minute push is on to convince Americans to check out their options, especially the younger demographic that, in the field, has been called the "Y.I.'s."
Another ad uses a mom in a pink sweater sitting at a kitchen table as she shows her son the www.healthcare.gov website.
"Are you ever going to stop worrying about me?" her son asks.
"When you get covered, I will," she says.
And separately -- accompanied by a snapshot of blue jeans: "Mom may love her comfy jeans, but she'll love it when you #GetCovered, too," tweeted @HHSgov.
The moms campaign leverages those whom
"They see their mom as a trusted information source," said Garner, a senior official in the Midwest region of the
Reaching out to young people, many of whom have never had insurance, "requires us to be very creative," she said.
Wise, for her part, got a call from DHSsoon after she signed up for health care coverage, inviting her to appear alongside
Wise, a Flint woman who cobbles together acting jobs in
And in a 30-second spot that launched last week on the federal website, www.healthcare.gov, and on TV in several states, Wise smacks a serve and high-fives a friend.
Wise said she's "elated" by her insurance coverage, which costs her about
An otherwise healthy 34-year-old, Wise had been without coverage until late December, just days after she suffered a concussion, having slammed into a setter on the volleyball team as both dove for a ball. Those bills still aren't final, she said, but she no longer has to worry about other unexpected medical crises.
"Everybody should be covered," she said.
Also this month, advocates stepped up efforts at community college campuses, coffee shops and even at a blood drive at the
"I really see them on both sides of the coin," Williams said. "You have your young folks who have never been sick and never had health care and, yeah, you have to highlight that need (for coverage)," he said. "But then you have others who may not have been sick themselves, but they've seen their parents get sick and they're ready to sign up."
Insurers are watching closely to see whether those numbers budge by
"If you get an older, less-healthy population, that's not a good business proposition," said
But Narowitz and others said it's sometimes a tough sell, in part, because young people assume they can't afford policies. They don't realize tax credits can significantly reduce premium costs and even cost-sharing, like co-payments.
Another obstacle? There's no easy way to focus marketing to young people like there is other products, say, by advertising on certain TV shows, said Karl Albrecht, president of
"There's not like a club for uninsured people you can go speak with," he said.
And even though tax credits might reduce the costs for some consumers, others might pay hundreds of dollars a month for a policy. If they've never had insurance before, they're not thinking about the risk of medical debt if something goes wrong. Rather, they think: Why bother?
For most Americans, going without insurance will mean a penalty of
"You want the the young people to help pay for the older folks who are higher (users) of health care, but the young people have something to say about that, too," Albrecht said.
Contact
___
(c)2014 the Detroit Free Press
Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 1142 |
Detroit Free Press Jeff Seidel column
A search for self: Scientific advances make it easier than ever to find long-lost family, learn history
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News