The White House is trying to creatively target young, healthy adults to persuade them to participate in health insurance exchanges. The NFL, NBA, and Oprah Winfrey were contacted, but none have signed a deal yet. Minnesota hopes it has better luck with Paul Bunyan.
Advertising for the new federally mandated health insurance exchanges is ramping up across the country. Open enrollment for a HIX, from Alaska to Alabama, is less than six weeks away, October 1, and pressure is on the White House to sign up millions of uninsured Americans.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has set a goal of enrolling 7 million people into the exchanges by the end of March 2014, when open enrollment closes. However, the figure Sebelius and President Barack Obama's administration are likely watching more closely is 2.7 million. That's the number of people aged 18–34 that need to enroll to make the exchanges affordable, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
To court the young and healthy, HHS has announced it is holding a video contest to engage young adults to enter videos that illustrate the need for health insurance in three different categories. Budding directors, singers, and animators will compete for cash, and the winning entries will be determined by online votes from the public.
A more sophisticated approach, which has yet to materialize, will use high profile celebrities to promote the benefits of enrolling for insurance on the exchanges. Overtures by the administration to partner with the NFL, which would have reached the younger male demographic, got no help from a couple of GOP lawmakers and were eventually rebuffed.
Congressional Republican leaders, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John Cornyn (R-TX), told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a June 27 letter that partnering with HHS on "Obamacare" could trigger a fan backlash: "Given the divisiveness and persistent unpopularity of this bill, it is difficult to understand why an organization like yours would risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand by lending its name to its promotion."
Talks with other sports organizations, such as the NBA, have also reportedly cooled. The President has since turned to actors and comedians, such as Amy Poehler, Jennifer Hudson, Oprah Winfrey, and others to help convince younger people to enroll in the exchanges, but again, nothing has yet been produced to promote them.
HHS is not the only entity that knows a younger, healthier mix is needed to help balance the premium pool so that the exchanges are actually affordable. Insurers and states, particularly the 16 states that are running a state-based HIX, are also aiming at the younger crowd.
Minnesota is using its iconic mascots Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox, to show why signing up for health insurance through its HIX, MNsure, is a good idea. TV ads show Bunyan getting hurt doing various activities, such as water skiing, snow skiing, and playing soccer, while Babe looks on.
Minneapolis-based BBDO Proximity developed MNsure's multi-media campaign, titled, "Land of 10,000 Reasons to Get Health Insurance." The ads are funny and will start blanketing the state early next week on TV, radio, online, and at the Minnesota State Fair.
In Oregon, officials are getting the word out with a one-minute TV spot featuring folk singer Laura Gibson, who strums a guitar singing, "Long Live the Oregon Spirit." The commercial strikes a hipster chord with the words, "Every baker, and banker, and indie rock band… will live long in Oregon."
The state is also relying on a hip hop group native to Oregon, Lifesavas, who is featured in another minute-long spot called, "Live Your Life". While capitalizing on Oregon's local music roots to promote the state's HIX is definitely an aim at the younger generation, Howard Rocky King, executive director for Cover Oregon, said in a release that they are also using grassroots partners to get the word out.
Community partners will likely play a big role in reaching consumers in states that opted out of running their own HIX, which is what most states (27) did. In South Carolina, community groups and health centers received $3.6 million to publicize the exchange.
That's a pittance compared to the more than $100 million California is estimated to spend. The gap exists because states that decided to either run their own exchange or partner with the federal government on one received more grant money to ensure success, which includes promotion and education.
But, another key piece of HIX enrollment is just that—enrolling people to participate. Developing and producing a catchy ad campaign will not suffice. This may be one case where audience reach will be a metric in the rear view because it's the number of people enrolled that matters most.
To that end, the Obama administration is using navigators to help inform and actually enroll consumers, which may work against enrolling the targeted demographic of 18–34. A survey from HealthPocket, a nonprofit insurance compare website, reveals that only 3 percent of that target audience plans on using navigators or nonprofit community groups as a source of help and/or advice for enrolling in a HIX.
Gabrielle DeTora, a hospital marketing consultant, says there are examples of successful healthcare campaigns aimed at a younger generation. She points to orthopedic service line campaigns that target high school athletes and their parents, as well as primary care campaigns directed toward educating younger people about diabetes prevention.
But, she also says that unless younger individuals are having children, they just are not buying health insurance.
"Reaching them probably won't be a problem, but selling them will be because there are so many other things that are competing for their dollar, like pizza and beer."
Other problems are also on the horizon that could pose a setback to HIX enrollment. Opponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act continue to fight the law. At the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, there is a billboard featuring a woman with her arms crossed with the question, "Why Can't I Choose My Own Doctor?" and a website refusemnsure.com.
As more components of PPACA get rolled out, it seems, so do opponents' advertising dollars. A USA Today report examined ad spending by detractors from 2010 to 2013, which showed they've spent $385 million tearing down the sweeping health reform.
With private health insurers who are participating in the exchanges, and federal money flooding the coffers of ad agencies to produce multi-media campaigns, HIX enrollment may be able to reach the Administration's overall goals, but the magic number of 2.7 million young people enrolling may prove too elusive.
Jacqueline Fellows is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.