Covered California Uses Social Media To Encourage Enrollment

Covered California is using social media to answer state residents' questions about health insurance exchange plans and encourage them to enroll in coverage, Modern Healthcare reports.

Details of Social Media Use

Covered California has set up accounts on several social media websites, including:

• Facebook, with pages in both English and Spanish;
• Google Plus;
• Twitter; and
• YouTube (Selvam, Modern Healthcare, 10/26).

The exchange's Facebook page currently has more than 100,000 "likes" and includes regular features, such "Ask the Expert" and "People Like Me" (Bookwalter, HealthyCal, 11/1).

In addition, Covered California has hosted real-time chats on:

• CoverItLive;
• Facebook; and
• Reddit.

Goals of Social Media Outreach

Roy Kennedy, a spokesperson for Covered California, said, "The goal is to educate each person that comes [online] and make them feel comfortable that they've received answers" (Modern Healthcare, 10/26).

Sarah Sol, an exchange spokesperson, said the social media efforts are "planned and intentional," noting that Covered California has received "tons and tons of questions" through the sites.

Sol said that social media posts aimed at individuals have received more comments than those targeting small businesses, adding, "We're learning as much from the lack of engagement as the engagement" (HealthyCal, 11/1).