CA health insurance exchange gets $674-million federal grant

[pnwmom]

10. I'm glad they're spending serious money on a marketing campaign, because

the success of the first year will be critical to the success of the whole program.

If large numbers of people don't enroll simply because they're not aware of their options, or of how the insurance plans will work, then the ACA is doomed to fail. And the next step wouldn't be Medicare for all, the Dems pipe dream. We'd just be going back to the old status quo, with the insurance companies free to price gauge and deny coverage to anyone they want.

But marketing isn't all they're going to be doing with that money. From the link at the OP:

"At an exchange board meeting in Los Angeles on Thursday, consumer advocates and community activists urged officials to offer information in multiple languages and to make online enrollment as simple as possible.

SNIP

"The exchange also has the task of helping millions of Californians determine whether they qualify for an expansion of Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program for the poor, or federally
subsidized private coverage. Families earning up to $93,000 annually may qualify for premium subsidies.

"Next week, health insurers and other companies must submit their initial bids to sell coverage in the exchange. Bidders will provide proposed rates by the end of March, and the exchange expects to select health plans in June.

"In addition to marketing, Covered California will use the federal grant money
to help fund operations through January 2015, when the online marketplace will rely on fees assessed on health policies sold through the exchange."

SNIP