Obama Care: Obamacare Promo Campaign To Hit Stride This Summer, Official Says

Jeffrey Young: Obamacare Promo Campaign To Hit Stride This Summer, Official Says HPFB.init();

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Jeffrey YoungHuffington Post Health Care Reporter

GET UPDATES FROM Jeffrey Young Obamacare Promo Campaign To Hit Stride This Summer, Official Says Posted: 04/17/2013 5:10 pm Follow

Barack Obama , Health Insurance , Health Care , Health Care Reform , Kathleen Sebelius , Health Care , Jeffrey Young on Health Care , Obamacare , Obamacare Campaign , Business News
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More than three years after President Barack Obama signed his health care reform law and just months before people can start signing up for benefits, his administration will roll out a massive consumer outreach campaign.

The Obama administration has a four-pronged plan to improve woeful public awareness of how the health care law is supposed to work, building up to Oct. 1, when people will actually begin seeking health coverage through the law's health insurance exchanges, according to a memo to the Senate Finance Committee from Marilyn Tavenner, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (h/t The Hill)

Obama and his lieutenants have their work cut out for them as they try to connect millions of uninsured people to subsidized private health insurance or Medicaid -- and to transition people and small businesses who already buy their own health insurance into the new system.

Public polling continues to show a plurality of Americans oppose the law, which is bad enough for Obama.

Worse is how poorly the public actually understands what Obamacare is and what it does. A recent poll by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation shows a majority doesn't believe they know enough about the law to determine whether it's good for them. People know even less about health care reform than they did in 2010, the survey revealed. And the poor and the uninsured -- the very people for whom Congress wrote this law -- are the least informed about it.

Meanwhile, Republicans and the health insurance industry continue to offer dark warnings of huge premium increases. Even Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who effectively is the chief author of the health care reform law, seems panicked. Baucus railed at Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a hearing Wednesday, saying the implementation of Obamacare will be a "train wreck" if she doesn't get the public properly educated in time.

After the hearing, Baucus laid out his concerns in a written statement:

"This is a good law but it can't work if people don't understand it," Senator Baucus said. "I hear from people on the ground in Montana that they are confused about the health care law. For the insurance marketplaces to work, people need to know their options and how to enroll. I want families' lives to be easier, and I want small businesses to focus on job creation, not confusion. The administration must use every day between now and October 1 to have insurance marketplaces up and running."

Tavenner's memo lays out the four phases of the administration's campaign to do just that: "Preparation," "Education," "Get Ready" and -- finally -- "Enrollment."

The "Education" part of this plan started at the beginning of the year and runs through June. The Kaiser Family Foundation survey took place in March, suggesting the administration hadn't made much headway halfway through.

But starting this summer, Obamacare begins to transition from a political abstraction into a fact of life for millions of Americans. That's when the administration will start promoting the call centers and websites designed to assist people and training so-called navigators to provide additional assistance.

After that is when the big sales pitch happens. "The Enrollment phase will run from October 2013 to March 2014. It includes a major launch effort that will engage all media channels, as well as provide new customer service channels and in-person assistance," Tavenner wrote.

The administration will have some help in its efforts. Supporters of the health care reform law will tout its benefits, including a coalition of liberal groups and health care industry organizations known as Enroll America.

And the health insurance industry will start advertising and marketing their products, in spite of their bitterness over the law. Obama exhorted them to work with him during a meeting with executives at the White House last Friday.

Marilyn Tavenner Memo to Senate Finance Committee

Follow Jeffrey Young on Twitter:www.twitter.com/JeffreyYoung_HC

FOLLOW BUSINESS Like 51k Get Alerts #ad_bottom_article_text {margin-bottom: 15px} Health Care ReformJeffrey Young on Health CareObamacareHealth CareMore than three years after President Barack Obama signed his health care reform law and just months before people can start signing up for benefits, his administration will roll out a massive consume...More than three years after President Barack Obama signed his health care reform law and just months before people can start signing up for benefits, his administration will roll out a massive consume...

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flowerplough5 Fans 6 hours ago (11:10 AM)To sell ObamaCare. what's necessary beyond the original promises that brought us ObamaCare?

Not a tax, keep your existing plan if you like it, won't hafta change doctors, won't cost more, won't increase waiting times or restrict access, won't increase the federal deficit, will simplify benefits-offering and thereby increase employment, etc.

Oh, wait, those were all lies. Never mind.flowerplough: To sell ObamaCare. what's necessary beyond the original promises thathttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/flowerplough/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245978934.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

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HUFFPOST SUPER USERBart DePalmaBart DePalma582 Fans 6 hours ago (10:43 AM)You must learn to love big brother.Bart_DePalma: You must learn to love big brother.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Bart_DePalma/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245969016.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

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HUFFPOST SUPER USERfirewiredCompared to what?2745 Fans 6 hours ago (10:36 AM)Message to Mr. O; stay home, keep working on ALL the other things (likes jobs) that are even more important. This "tour" is just another excuse for a taxpayer-funded rolling vacation!

There is plenty enough information available for us to make our own choices, and don't need to hear from him anymore on the subject! Stay home, get some REAL work done.

Mr. O. is not even a 2nd class sales associate trainee. He's still trying to learn how to do his original job, and isn't having much success doing that either!firewired: Message to Mr. O; stay home, keep working on ALLhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/firewired/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245966103.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

Loading comments… Ozone6940 Fans 8 hours ago ( 8:57 AM)Outreach is code for campaigning, which is all the President seems to be doing. Our campaigner in Chief. He clearly does not have what it takes to be an effective leader. Considering his thin resume, no one should be surprised.Ozone69: Outreach is code for campaigning, which is all the Presidenthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Ozone69/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245935166.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

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HUFFPOST SUPER USERplaidsportcoat1072 Fans 13 hours ago ( 3:47 AM)This will be ridiculously, way too late. How many people are they going to employ to answer people's questions? How many "trained professionals"?
I've been looking for a local training program so I could be prepared to inform people about Obamacare - an extensive two-day training workshop which provides participants with great reference materials to refer to while answering questions -, but I haven't found even one in the greater SF Bay region.plaidsportcoat: This will be ridiculously, way too late. How many peoplehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/plaidsportcoat/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245894992.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it therains0 Fans 9 hours ago ( 8:04 AM)I have also been searching extensively for information on becoming a trained professional to inform people and have made zero progress. It begs the question, how are they going to reach the millions of people within that short time? Its a very frustrating experience here in NJ.therains: I have also been searching extensively for information on becominghttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/therains/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245922483.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

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Loading comments… HUFFPOST SUPER USERCleverboots2718 Fans 19 hours ago ( 9:28 PM)Four years after the fact he's doing outreach? If he had personally overseen the creation of the ACA, instead of leaving the dog work to Congress and if he had spent as much time on creating a good bill with the public option and negotiated drug prices as he has spent on other issues, he wouldn't have mass confusion and misinformation rampant now.Cleverboots: Four years after the fact he's doing outreach? If hehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Cleverboots/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245817232.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

Loading comments… This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program yattycathy26 Fans 19 hours ago ( 9:20 PM)We are nearing the end of "education"? Really?yattycathy: We are nearing the end of "education"? Really?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/yattycathy/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245814470.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

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msJersey208 Fans 20 hours ago ( 8:21 PM)I love all this marketing. PR firms, media...where exactly in the Constitution does it mention selling a law?
Sequestor? What sequestor?msJersey: I love all this marketing. PR firms, media...where exactly inhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/msJersey/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245793265.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USERdilgrim89 Fans 18 hours ago (10:12 PM)Pennies, mere pennies, compared to what is spent marketing the 2d Amendment.dilgrim: Pennies, mere pennies, compared to what is spent marketing thehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/dilgrim/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245831590.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it HUFFPOST SUPER USERAnnoulaEnough about me!738 Fans 4 hours ago (12:50 PM)And trying to end two long wars and all their associated costs!Annoula: And trying to end two long wars and all theirhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Annoula/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_246018503.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

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wonketteRAWKSHypocrisy is prevalent in BOTH parties!345 Fans 22 hours ago ( 6:50 PM)This summer? What's taking so long?wonketteRAWKS: This summer? What's taking so long?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/wonketteRAWKS/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245756961.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it HUFFPOST SUPER USERCleverboots2718 Fans 19 hours ago ( 9:30 PM)No drama Obama. Faved already fanned.Cleverboots: No drama Obama. Faved already fanned.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Cleverboots/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245817781.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

Loading comments… mgpayneTrying to make sense of it all111 Fans 19 hours ago ( 9:31 PM)They are still reading it.mgpayne: They are still reading it.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/mgpayne/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245818082.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USERdilgrim89 Fans 18 hours ago (10:13 PM)My proposal would have been much shorter. Medicare for everybody. That's it, three words.dilgrim: My proposal would have been much shorter. Medicare for everybody.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/dilgrim/obamacare-promo-campaign-_b_3103086_245832105.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

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