Nov 212012
 

If health care reform is to be a success, the Obama administration must find a way to educate people about how the law affects them. As Sarah Kliff notes in another typically smart article, those who stand to benefit most from the Affordable Care Act have no idea how the law affects them. They don’t know that they may be eligible for insurance subsidies or Medicaid. They don’t know that they will be able to purchase insurance even if they have preexisting conditions.

A massive public education effort will be needed to spread the word about the law’s benefits before open enrollment begins in the exchanges next October. The administration has a clear interest in ensuring a successful kickoff, but so does another critical stakeholder group—the insurance companies. They need lots of people to enroll in their plans to cover the costs of covering people with more chronic health care conditions. That gives me some confidence that we’ll see a coordinated and effective public outreach campaign. The last thing the administration wants to see at this time next year is news headlines proclaiming the lack of interest in Obamacare.

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