Healthcare.gov has been hard at work informing consumers of a continuous countdown to the end of open enrollment, advising to sign up for 2017 Marketplace coverage ASAP. However, at the close of last week—with days still to spare—the open enrollment ads suddenly vanished. The reason per The Washington Post was the Trump Administration’s aim to cut costs on promoting a healthcare platform that they’ve already set in motion to repeal.
The administration claims the ads and outreach to consumers cost millions. Once there was a noticeable dip in outreach and ads had been removed, Americans took to social media and news sites began pointing out that not only were ads gone, emails, texts and phone calls ended, plus Healthcare.gov’s Twitter went tweetless.
The backlash led to a reinstatement of certain forms of promotion: HHS can call, email, and text again, along with Healthcare.gov’s return to tweeting. However, TV and radio ads are still pulled, which one HHS official claims would have cost $4-$5 million, despite demands from pro-ACA organizations to reinstate all outreach.
It’s certainly a testament to the Trump Administration’s goal to erase the Affordable Care Act from memory. However, they shouldn’t act too hastily. There are still some hours left in open enrollment to obtain coverage for 2017 from the Health Insurance Marketplace.