On Tuesday, the race to enroll Americans in the health insurance marketplaces established by President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care law begins — and it appears the Obama administration has a steep hill to climb to explain what exactly the exchanges are.
One recent poll shows that nearly half of Americans have never even heard of the exchanges, even though millions of young and healthy people must enroll in them for Obamacare to work. And much of the outreach by the White House and allied groups on the issue has just started in the past few weeks, despite three and a half years of criticism that Obama has not adequately sold the country on his signature piece of legislation.
Meanwhile, conservative groups have poured millions of dollars into advertising and other campaigns to discourage people — especially young people — from buying the insurance, in the hopes Obamacare will fail.
The president and his team have emphasized the insurance will be so affordable that Americans will decide for themselves to buy it, despite the messages they’re being bombarded with from the opposing side. The White House has poured its time and energy into building and promoting a central website where people who live in the 36 states where the federal government manages part or all of the exchanges can purchase insurance and see if they qualify for tax breaks.
The president is essentially taking an “if you build it, they will come” stance.
