Covered California far outspends Trump administration advertising open enrollment
"Sadly, in those 35 states, they'll have lower enrollment and higher premiums," said
As the federal government backed away from the Affordable Care Act,
On Wednesday, Lee wrapped up a six-day bus tour of
The news coverage that the bus tour generates helps get the word out to thousands of Californians who are eligible for either financial subsidies or
In the last year, Lee said, roughly 1.1 million people in the state qualified for subsidies to help pay for their health care. The majority of those people will see their premiums drop because Covered California proactively worked with insurers to ensure that they could collect federal funds already appropriated to offset costs for low-wage consumers.
In mid-October, after months of uncertainty, President
In
"
Pollitz said it's critical for government to sink money into advertising the health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. In its research, Kaiser has found that most consumers don't remember the dates when open enrollment starts or ends. In
But in the 35 states where the
Television advertising has proven to be the most effective in reaching the people who need it, even better than social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, Pollitz said. In last year's open enrollment period, the Obama administration put
When Trump took office on
This year, on
"One of the reasons enrollment numbers matter is that you want a mix of healthy and not-so-healthy people in your exchange because people who are healthy this year help to pay for people who are sick this year," said
The first days of enrollment, Lee said, often bring in the people who need coverage the most. It's harder, he said, to get healthy people to log in and make choices. Yet those healthy people are the key to ensuring that premiums remain lower for everyone. On average, premiums for policies offered by Covered California rose by 12.5 percent this year, but nearly 90 percent of participants receive tax credits that will either lower their out-of-pocket costs or keep them about the same.
Lee said it has been able to offer such rates because its coverage group includes a good number of healthy consumers in the mix, many of whom come from the ranks of subsidized consumers. Among those who receive subsidies, 78 percent will either see no change in their 2018 premiums or will pay less than what they would have paid if there had been no surcharge.
Advertising will help to spread that news, Kominski said, especially for people who don't get health insurance through an employer. This is also the time of year when people who do receive health insurance through an employer sign up for next year's benefits.
"At the UC, it's open enrollment season," Kominski said, "and I've been getting emails reminding me that it's time to sign up for benefits for next year. That includes more than just health care, but health care is the most important benefit that I have to be signed up for, and if I want to make a change, now is the time to do it."
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