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WASHINGTON (MCT)—Amid a resurgent effort by critics to attack (Note the pejorative language. Critics are "attacking" the law. Its characterizations like this that betray the bias of the writer, a person who is supposed to be objective.)
the 2010 health care law, the Obama administration and its allies are focusing on getting millions of Americans enrolled in coverage next year and making sure the new state health insurance exchanges will be ready for open enrollment in October. (Once again we note the way the issue is presented. The Obama administration is hard at work, you see. They're "focused" on helping millions of people, despite the environment of hostility perpetrated by critics. Oh, can you imagine? Those evil critics standing in the way of such noble efforts? Yes, the Obama administration is so courageous, so caring, so compassionate!)
But convincing a skeptical public to heed the Affordable Care Act’s “individual mandate” will be a major challenge when the bulk of the health care overhaul is fully implemented next year. (They've been trying to convince a skeptical public for more than three years. And what a curious choice of words. "Heed," to pay attention. We haven't been convinced to "heed" the individual mandate.
What does that mean, anyway?
So aren't paying attention, and apparently are ignorant of the wonderful features of obamacare. We aren't listening to our heroes and benefactors who care so much for us. We aren't heeding their wonderful programs. Can we ask, is this a news article or a press release?)
Polls show that not only do most Americans dislike the provision that requires them to get health coverage or pay a fine for noncompliance, but they’re also confused about what coverage they should get, how to get it and how much it will cost. (Ok, so here's a rather weak acknowledgement that the majority of people do not like obamacare. The reporter attempts to gloss over that by linking the skepticism to confusion. But the dislike of a specific feature of the plan does not mean that people must understand the arcane details of other aspects of it. In actual fact, the more we learn about the plan, the more we find that's wrong with it, Just as Nancy Pelosi promised.)
To better inform people of their options, nearly 1,200 community health centers will use $150 million in federal grants to help spread the word. Florida Community Health Centers, for instance, which operates 10 facilities in central Florida, will use its $173,000 grant to hire three full-time benefit counselors and an outreach worker who’ll seek out the uninsured for coverage. (In other word, drum up business.)
“We go to beauty shops, barbershops, day cares, laundromats, churches and any other houses of worship. That’s where people congregate,” said Molly Ferguson, the centers’ director of program development. (Why is the separation of church and state not a problem here?)
These and other federal grants will help with outreach efforts, but congressional Republicans’ refusal to provide more money for a public awareness campaign (actually, a propaganda campaign) has made the enrollment effort more difficult. The health care law was passed without Republican support.
Private administration-friendly organizations such as Enroll America, Young Invincibles and Organizing for America (No label applied, unlike a couple of paragraphs down, where we will find the "conservative" label.) will be counted on to help the administration try to win the health law messaging war. But opponents of the law have been on the offensive.
A recent analysis by Kantar Media, which tracks political spending, found that critics of the Affordable Care Act have spent $400 million on television ads since the law passed, compared with just $75 million by its supporters. A $1 million ad campaign against the law by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political group funded by billionaire Kansas industrialists Charles and David Koch, is airing online and on cable networks in Ohio and Virginia. (The eeeevil Koch brothers. Can we ask why the people behind Enroll America, Young Invincibles, and Organizing for America are not identified?)
“We feel it is important to educate Ohioans on the true consequences of government intrusion into the private health care decisions of families,” said Eli Miller, the Ohio director of Americans for Prosperity.
The conservative Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom has launched a national “Refuse to Enroll” campaign that urges people not to buy coverage through the exchanges.
The council, which describes itself as a “free-market resource” for health care issues, says the cost of coverage on the exchanges might be unaffordable for many, even with premium subsidies. The group claims, among other reasons, that the exchanges will offer only limited choices of physicians and hospitals and that they require considerable paperwork to enroll. It likens them to “Medicaid for the middle class.”
“We encourage Americans to get involved and make sure that the exchanges fail and, as a result, Obamacare also fails,” said Twila Brase, the group’s president and co-founder.
In response, the left-leaning (A soft label. They only "lean" left.) Americans United for Change will launch a “Hands Off Obamacare” ad campaign on cable news stations beginning next week.
In the face of dwindling funds and a powerful negative messaging machine, the Obama administration and a variety of public and private stakeholders will try to enroll an estimated 7 million people for coverage on the exchanges from October to March.
(If obamacare is so wonderful, why do people need to be persuaded? Why the need for promotion? And after three years, why are people still confused? And why is it surprising to the writer that opponents have actually spent money to oppose it?)
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