http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/259437-president-launches-obamacare-sign-up-contestPresident launches ObamaCare sign-up contest
November 07, 2015, 06:00 am
President launches ObamaCare sign-up contest
By Bradford Richardson
President Obama is kicking off open enrollment season by challenging Americans to sign up for health insurance through ObamaCare exchanges, promising to visit the city that sees the biggest uptick in new healthcare plans.
Obama said he wants “to see how many of your neighbors you can get signed up.”
“I’ll come visit the city that enrolls the highest percentage of folks who aren’t covered right now,” he added in his weekly address Saturday.
The Healthy Communities Challenge will pit 20 major cities, each headed by a Democratic mayor, against each other to see who can increase the marginal insurance rate.
Obama also touted the success of the healthcare law he signed in 2010, pointing to figures that show 17.6 million Americans have been covered through the Affordable Care Act.
He said Americans “like” the controversial healthcare law that bars insurance companies from charging higher rates on the basis of preexisting conditions and imposes penalties on the uninsured.
“What we’re talking about is no longer just a law, and it's certainly not the myths and scare tactics that the cynics have peddled our way for years,” Obama said.
“This is reality. This is healthcare in America. And the bottom line is, Americans like it. They’re happy with their plans and their premiums.”
About half of the country disapproves of the president’s signature legislation, according to a RealClearPolitics average poll, compared to 42 percent who approve of it.
The third sign-up season for ObamaCare is expected to be a rocky one, as the remaining crop of uninsured are thought to be the most difficult people to reach. Federal health officials expect to add fewer than 1 million new customers.
The announcement of the Healthy Communities Challenge comes after Obama made a half-dozen radio pitches advertising the beginning of open enrollment.
