It's ready.
Hoping to repeat the success of 2014, the White House is in full campaign mode to broadcast the opening of open enrollment Saturday. They are reminding people to get signed up for Obamacare, and for those who have already enrolled, to re-enroll to make sure they're getting the best possible deal. According to a backgrounder released by the Press Secretary's office:
There are 77 new health insurance issuers selling health care plans in the Marketplaces in 2015, up 25 percent from last year. In addition to reaching out to the uninsured, the Administration is focused on reaching the 7.1 million people already in the Marketplace to encourage them to update their application to get the most financial help possible and shop for the plan that best meets their needs. If current enrollees don’t take action by December 15, 2014, most will be automatically reenrolled in their current plan starting January 1, 2015. While we are making sure existing consumers get the most for their money, we continue to reach those Americans who remain uninsured.
It will make sense for people to shop around again. The Kaiser Family Foundation
analyzed premiums for 2015 in 48 urban areas, and found that premiums are falling there. A
second study from the actuarial firm Wakely Consulting Group determined and average rate of zero increase in premiums for the largest counties in the 34 states using the federal exchange.
“Usually, health insurance premiums have gone in one direction, and that is up,” said Cynthia Cox, a senior analyst at Kaiser who was a co-author on its paper. She said that the widespread premium decreases really stood out when she ran the numbers.
That's part of the message the Obama team is
taking to the opposition, as they plan a big push for enrollments in Texas. The state still has a 24 percent uninsured rate, the worst in the country, and the Republican leadership there is possibly more hostile than any other single state toward the law. Federal officials are teaming up with local officials in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, as well as businesses like the grocery chain H-E-B, to get the word out. H-E-B stores will have navigators in stores to help people sign up.
There has been and will continue to be a focus on the Latino community. According to the White House statement, "Secretary Burwell held a Google hangout with Latino bloggers, and conducted TV interviews with Univision and Telemundo which has aired throughout the week," and will do "regional TV interviews in Chicago, El Paso, San Antonio, Atlanta, and Chicago, as well as Telemundo in Atlanta and San Antonio to discuss the open enrollment launch and promote the Latino Enrollment Summits that are taking place on Saturday." Officials will be in Ohio, Virginia, and, Florida as well as Texas, and the hard push will continue through next week.
But the administration will keep using its microtargeting outreach program throughout the entire enrollment period, which is February 15 for new enrollees (people reenrolling have a December 15 deadline). While they've been cautious in their estimates about how many new enrollments they expect, they're obviously pushing hard to beat their own expectations.