The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is entering a tough new phase.
Those implementing the landmark health law are trying to figure out how to fix some of it’s flaws that have caused millions to be denied insurance that they’re entitled to or to be kicked off or drop plans because of the high costs.
In addition, there remain millions who, despite the insurance mandate, have not signed up for Medicaid or purchased insurance through the Obamacare marketplaces. To fulfill the promise of the law, federal officials need to figure out how to get this segment of the population insured.
The group is largely made up of young people living barely above the poverty line, Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell told NPR. While there are a variety of reasons that millions are still resisting the mandate, officials are convinced that more intense outreach to educate the uninsured on health care opportunities is key.
But it’s clear that the remaining group of uninsured will be harder to convince than the millions who have enrolled during the first two years of the PPACA.
NPR reports that the Department of Health and Human Services is confronting the communications gap by trying to talk to young people where they hang out: online. The administration is using Facebook, paid online advertisements, emails and texts to reach the most stubborn Obamacare resisters.
The new incarnation of healthcare.gov is supposed to offer those seeking plans a new set of tools to better evaluate their insurance options, based on their location and the services and medicines they depend on. But there are big fears that reported glitches in the site might not be ready by the time open enrollment starts on Sunday.
In the midst of uncertainty from the federal government, a number of private organizations are stepping up to get people insured. Enroll America, a nonprofit devoted to getting people signed up for the PPACA, is launching a new app that allows people to compare plan offerings and costs.
Not that the group is opposed to old-school tactics. “Perhaps we'll go to church on Sunday, and we'll actually stand up in front of the congregation and share with them the information,” Anne Filipic, the group president, told NPR.
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