A last-minute tactic by the Trump Administration to cancel $5 million in advertising the federal government had already paid for to remind Americans of Tuesday’s 2017 open enrollment deadline for Obamacare will have little impact in the Golden State.
That’s because Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange established under the Affordable Care Act, is not federally directed or funded. So a plethora of radio, television and web ads, as well as email reminders, are locked in and running statewide through midnight Tuesday.
In other words, full steam ahead.
About 11.5 percent of Yolo County residents receive their healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, according to state figures.
“Consistent with our efforts in previous years, we are using paid and earned media efforts to promote enrollment in Covered California as the Jan. 31 deadline approaches,’’ said Covered California CEO Peter Lee, who was in Los Angeles Friday to help promote the sign up deadline.
“We think this is the best way to help those who need health insurance get affordable coverage.”
With less than a week to go before the enrollment deadline, Trump’s attempt to kill the messenger, reported late Thursday by Politico, stunned healthcare advocates.
But others considered it to be in keeping with Trump and the Republican party’s unswerving efforts to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 legislation as soon as possible.
“To stop doing marketing and outreach on the last week of open enrollment seems to be a deliberate effort to sabotage health insurance markets for 2018, despite having no replacement in place to deal with the consequences,’’ Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer advocacy group, said in a statement.
Wright applauded Covered California for continuing its outreach, because “it wants to connect consumers to coverage and care, and recognizes that increased enrollment helps stabilize premiums,’’ he said.
Since enrollment began in November, Covered California said 1.3 million Californians have renewed their health care plans, while more than 327,000 have signed up for new coverage.
A provision of the law has also helped enroll 3.8 million adult Californians without dependent children into Medi-Cal, the state and federal government funded health care program for the poor and disabled.
The exchange confirmed that it expects tens of thousands more to enroll in the last five days, a period it characterizes as crucial for procrastinators.
Meanwhile, Wright said he urges all Americans to sign up for coverage before the deadline, “and then fight for their health care with their Congressional Representatives in the weeks ahead.”
