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[Kevinroc]

https://www.vox.com/2017/8/31/16236280/trump-obamacare-outreach-ads

The Trump administration plans to deeply cut Obamacare outreach and advertising, officials announced Thursday. They will reduce Obamacare advertising spending 90 percent, from the $100 million that the Obama administration spent last year to $10 million this year, and cut the budget for the in-person enrollment program by 41 percent.

Taken together, this represents a 72 percent cut to efforts to enroll eligible Americans into health law programs.

Administration officials cited “diminishing returns” from outreach activities. In a phone call with reporters, they said that most Americans already know about the Affordable Care Act. They plan to make the deepest cuts to the enrollment workers who have signed up few health law enrollees.

The Affordable Care Act’s advertising budget has paid for digital messaging, television ads and radio spots. Officials at Health and Human Services estimated that the Obama administration spent $100 million on advertising last year.

This year, the Trump administration will spend $10 million on advertising nationwide. To put that number in context, California is planning to spend $111.5 million on health law advertising in its state alone.

“People are aware of Obamacare and the exchanges, they are aware they can sign up,” the second HHS official said. (A spokesperson requested that reporters refer to the officials as Health and Human Service Official 1, 2, and 3. When asked why their names could not be used, the spokesperson said “It’s just for briefing purposes.”) “The Obama administration doubled spending on advertising and saw a 5 percent decline in enrollment. Despite a doubled budget, there are diminishing returns.”

The decline in health law enrollment, however, occurred in late January, around the moment the Trump administration abruptly cancelled $5 million in advertisements after taking office.

When pressed by a reporter, officials said they had not done any studies of the efficacy of enrollment advertising or whether public awareness is indeed quite high.

“We haven’t done a specific study related to the public awareness of the program,” the third HHS official said. “I think most Americans are aware of the program at this point in time.”

The Obama administration spent $62.5 million in 2016 providing grants to non-profits and health clinics to help Americans sign up for health coverage. This “navigator” program paid enrollment workers to assist with enrollment, and advertise the open enrollment period to their community (through things like phone calls and health fairs).

The Trump administration will reduce the navigator program’s budget to $36 million. It will focus its budget cuts on the navigator grantees that have fallen short of their enrollment goals. A navigator grantee, for example, who only hit 30 percent of its enrollment goal this year will get just 30 percent of its expected budget for next year (no grantees will be defunded entirely — the first HHS official said they’d set a floor of $10,000 for all participants).

 

[Linkura]

Pure fucking evil.

 

[Dead Prince]

so much for letting it destroy itself.

 

[Mael]

Might as well slash the budget for drug prevention,
people are aware of the damages of drugs and that it's illegal after all.

 

[Plum]

He's not just scrapping the entire advertising team? Frankly I'm rather disappointed in the guy, he can't even fuck over Obama's legacy correctly.

 

[geomon]

We should just rename the country to Obama. Then maybe he'll leave.

 

[SeanC]

When it's not actually failing on its own like you say, just do what you can to make sure it fails.

That makes him #smart.

 

[FunkyMunkey]

literal sabotage

 

[Widdle Puppy]

Piece of orange dog shit

 

[DrForester]

Could have sworn this was announced a while ago.

 

[pelicansurf]

He's really cutting loose now that he knows that he's getting impeached soon.

 

[thepotatoman]

What does this mean for the whitehouse twitch account?

Seriously though, isn't this an important part of the bill?

 

[Lightning_Roller]

He's really cutting loose now that he knows that he's getting impeached soon.

The wild ravings and desperate attempts of a cornered man with everything to lose.

 

[Chezzymann]

I'm surprised he didn't make ads telling people NOT to enroll in ObamaCare instead

 

[Shadow Puppetry]

He's going apeshit from Mueller and the IRS teaming.

 

[Kevinroc]

Could have sworn this was announced a while ago.

He's tried undercutting the ACA before.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown...able-care-act-assistance-contracts-18-cities/

Like here, when he ended ACA assistance contracts in 18 cities.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-white-house-obamacare-ads-234245

Or when he cut already paid for advertising just after his inauguration.

 

[UberTag]

so much for letting it destroy itself.

When they said that, they always meant "we're going to sabotage/defund it and TELL you it destroyed itself".

 

[mreddie]

Sabotage

Fucking asshole.

 

[shira]

We should just rename the country to Obama. Then maybe he'll leave.

He'd probably hire russian hookers to piss all over it

 

[Fancyarcher]

Gotta find a way to pay that wall somehow I see.

Horrible!

 

[Nydius]

If they don't know about it, they won't care when I decide to stop paying subsidies for the cost-sharing plans!

Trump logic!

 

[TheContact]

Literally trying to legally kill people. Should be thrown in a fucking dungeon.

 

[orientalNoodle]

Trump, may you live forever.

 

[Master Yoshi]

How long is America going to watch it's precious child kick and scream in the fucking floor at Walmart?