Covered California Makes Final Push As Enrollment Deadline Nears
Staff members are not only warning of the impending deadline, they're also making sure people know of the stiff penalties they'll face this year if they remain uninsured.
The Sacramento Bee:
Uninsured? Covered California’s Final Enrollment Push Ends This Weekend
For Covered California officials, it’s crunch time. They’ve spent $29 million on advertising, opened 500 storefronts, beefed up call centers and trained hundreds of health insurance enrollment counselors who speak 12 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese. They’ve also rolled through 21 cities in a statewide bus tour to highlight this year’s open enrollment season, projecting the words “Enroll Now” on iconic buildings such as Sacramento’s Tower Bridge and San Francisco’s Coit Tower. (Buck, 1/28)
KPCC:
A Last-Minute Push In Inglewood For Health Insurance Signups
On a recent afternoon, more than a dozen Covered California staff members and volunteers armed with clipboards and flyers descend on a two-block stretch of Inglewood around the intersection of La Brea Avenue and Manchester Boulevard. They duck into every business in this two-block stretch, and stop people on the street. (Aguilera, 1/29)
The San Jose Mercury News:
Obamacare: Enrollment Deadline Looms
As the midnight Sunday deadline looms for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Californians to sign up for a health care plan -- or face steep fines -- it's gut check time for them, but also for Covered California. (Seipel, 1/28)
USA Today:
Feds Seek Insurance Sign-Ups As Clock Ticks Towards Enrollment Deadline
Four days before an enrollment deadline they vow not to extend, federal health officials on Thursday tried to dismiss suggestions Affordable Care Act sign ups slowed in January and emphasized that momentum is building toward Jan. 31. Instead, Andy Slavitt, acting administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, noted that December enrollment was particularly strong and he singled out 14 states where signups are running at least 20% higher than they were last year at this time. And Slavitt noted that Thursday traffic was 50% higher than a week ago, showing how interest is picking up during what he called "the final countdown." (O'Donnell, 1/28)
NPR:
Still Uninsured? Buy A Health Plan This Week To Avoid A Tax Penalty
Federal health officials have this message for people who want health insurance: Don't wait. There are just four days left to sign up for an insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act, and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services are stressing that they won't extend the enrollment period this year beyond Jan. 31. (Kodjak, 1/28)