The Affordable Care Act is still law.
Californians are getting barraged with online pop-up ads, radio spots and television commercials, all aimed at persuading them to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans during this year’s open-enrollment season.
Covered California, the state’s Obamacare exchange, is wielding a monster marketing budget that devotes $45 million to ads, including $18 million for TV and $8 million for radio. The agency is so flush with marketing dollars that it also spent $100,000 for a dozen freshly painted murals across the state, most of which have nothing directly to do with health insurance enrollment.
Covered California’s marketing riches contrast starkly with the advertising budget for the federal health insurance exchange, healthcare.gov. The feds have slashed ad dollars to $10 million, down from $100 million last year.
The huge discrepancy reflects conflicting attitudes toward the ACA, commonly known as Obamacare, said Gerald Kominski, director at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Also, before changes to the provisions of the Affordable Care Act can be made, alternatives need to be worked out.