The selling of a health plan, part two
By Jane Sarasohn-Kahn on 28 June 2012 in Affordable Care Act, Health benefits, Health insurance, Health literacy, Health marketing, Health politics, Health reform, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Popular culture and health, PPACA, Social media and health
Calling Don Draper, Donny Deutsch, and the spirit of David Ogilvy: the President needs you.
The President must sell the Affordable Care Act to the American people now that Justice Roberts wrote the Supreme Court's historic 5-4 majority opinion supporting the Act, and especially the individual mandate. He argued for the majority that while the mandate is unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause which would "command people to buy insurance," he said that the mandate is a de facto tax, as people who would choose to opt out of insurance would have an alternative of paying an IRS fine.
Senator Eric Cantor tweeted one hour after the SCOTUS decision as follows: @EricCantor: The House will vote to fully repeal Obamacare on July 11.
Now the heavy lifting of selling — er, re-selling — the Affordable Care Act begins.
The hard truth is that the White House and ACA advocates did a poor job marketing the plan while detractors of so-called Obamacare spent $250 million compared with pro-ACA spending of $75 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Health Populi's Hot Points: The President's post-SCOTUS decision statement today timed in at a mere few minutes, saying that the decision was "a health care victory for people all over this country." It's time for us to move forward, he said.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 37% of Americans do not believe the law would change their lives. 31% believe they'll be worse off, and 23% see themselves as being better off with the law.
The President has the opportunity to impact at least the 37% of Americans who feel like the law won't impact them at all. It will: it will impact the entire nation, by moving primary care to the top of the health agenda, funding innovation in Medicare, and removing barriers to access for preventive services, among other provisions.
But these details haven't been well-communicated or couched in language that speaks to people in their homes and in their daily lives. Time for the social marketers and health behavior experts to come together and inspire health and health insurance literacy.