Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Obama Administration Launches Full-On Courtship As Open Enrollment Nears
The Associated Press: Mailings, Social Media Ads Woo Uninsured For Health Sign-Up
The Obama administration says it’ll send more than 10 million mailings to woo the uninsured for the final health care law sign-up season of President Barack Obama’s tenure. Add to that countless email messages to both prospective and returning customers — and ads on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. (10/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Health-Care Law Ads Clash With GOP Message
The Obama administration is planning to use television ads and direct mail to boost participation in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges in the coming open-enrollment period, but its timing will mean fighting for attention amid the noise of the election. The ads, which are partly focused on the affordability of coverage under the law, will run headlong into campaigns by opponents of the law who are using their own political ads to denounce it as a costly boondoggle. (Armour, 10/13)
The Hill: Administration Plans New ObamaCare Outreach Tactics
The Obama administration is touting new outreach tactics that it says will help bring more young people into ObamaCare as a new signup period nears. Officials say they have learned lessons from the first three years of signups in order to hone their messages. Bringing a higher percentage of young and healthy people, or increasing the overall enrollment number, would help ease insurer concerns about a smaller and sicker group of enrollees than expected. (Sullivan, 10/13)
The Hill: Study Projects Flattening ObamaCare Sign-Ups In 2017
A new analysis projects that ObamaCare enrollment will be roughly flat or could even decline slightly next year. The analysis from Standard & Poor's projects that between 11.7 million and 13.3 million people will sign up for ObamaCare in the enrollment period that begins Nov. 1. That is compared to 12.7 million who signed up last year. That means that two years of growth in the marketplace will turn into a “significant slowdown” for 2017, the report says. (Sullivan, 10/13)
Bloomberg: Obamacare Enrollment To See ‘Significant Slowdown’ Next Year
Enrollment in the Obamacare insurance marketplace is likely to stall or even decline for 2017 as higher premiums drive away people who aren’t eligible for government subsidies, according to S&P Global Ratings forecasts. ... This November will be the fourth open enrollment period for individuals to choose insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law. The “significant slowdown” predicted by S&P would be another setback for ACA’s government-run insurance markets, after big insurers pulled out of many states because of mounting losses. (Doherty, 10/13)
