Trump Acts To Sabotage Obamacare Enrollment, Days Before Deadline
Source: Huffington Post
Politico’s Paul Demko reported on Thursday evening that the Department of Health and Human Services has halted all outreach efforts, including television advertising and direct email designed to encourage people to enroll in Obamacare plans.
The Obama administration had already paid for the advertising. An HHS spokesperson told Demko that the Trump administration had decided to cancel the final installment, worth about $5 million, in order “to look for efficiencies where they exist.”
The timing is critical. The open enrollment period for 2017 ends next week, on Jan. 31, and traditionally, signups have surged in the final days before the deadline.
Those late signups don’t merely boost the program’s enrollment numbers. They also help insurers to hold down premiums.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-obamacare-enrollment_us_588a9451e4b0230ce61b0b40?vetgfi0iwyul92j4i&
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"Josh Peck, who worked on the last three open enrollment periods and just stepped down as chief marketing officer for Healthcare.gov, told The Huffington Post that HHS did extensive research into which outreach efforts worked and tailored its campaigns accordingly ― focusing specifically on those most likely to yield the most signups. HHS found that simply reminding people of the final date, particularly by email, was the most effective tactic, Peck said.
Peck noted that HHS doesn’t spend money on e-mails, the way it does for television or digital ads, so there’s no money to be refunded there.
“They are shutting down outreach efforts that are effectively free,” Peck said. “One of the most effective things we do in the final days is to email people, just to let them know the date of the deadline. That’s all bought and paid for already. Taxpayers will not save a single cent by not sending emails in those final days. I can’t fathom what claim of efficiency can be involved there.”
