When the Trump administration said it was slashing its budget for Obamacare outreach by more than $100 million, Lori Lodes was flabbergasted.
Ms. Lodes, who promoted the federal HealthCare.gov website under President Obama, excoriated the new administration on social media, saying TV ads were the “No. 1 driver” for getting people to sign up.
On Wednesday, Ms. Lodes moved beyond Twitter tirades and launched a private campaign to try to fill the void she said was left by President Trump as 2018 sign-ups begin Nov. 1.
“If the administration was committed to making sure people had the information they needed to sign up for health care, we wouldn’t need to start Get America Covered. But people’s lives are at stake so everyone has to step up and fill whatever gaps they can so people get the health care they need,” said Ms. Lodes, who is working with Joshua Peck, another Obama staffer, to try to boost enrollment.
Their campaign is dubbed Get America Covered, and will focus on the roughly three dozen states that rely on the federal HealthCare.gov portal, since the remaining states run their own outreach operations.
The campaign launched a social media presence and website, and is requesting donations to run online advertising about the law and taxpayer-funded subsidies that help many customers afford their premiums.
The campaign is the latest in a series of moves by former Obama administration officials and Democratic staffers to defend the previous administration’s signature law.
Organizing for Action, the spinoff of Mr. Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, said 1 million of its supporters were involved in anti-repeal efforts this year, including 50,000 calls to members of Congress and 2,500 events in support of the health care law.
Its executive director, Katie Hogan, served in the White House during Mr. Obama’s first term. The group’s national issues campaign manager, Saumya Narechania, also worked in the White House before joining Enroll America, a nonprofit that herded people into Obamacare’s insurance exchanges before disbanding earlier this year.
Andy Slavitt, who oversaw federal insurance programs under Mr. Obama, has also been a highly visible advocate for Obamacare through social media, TV appearances and town hall events. He joined the new campaign Wednesday alongside Van Jones, a CNN contributor and “green jobs” adviser under Mr. Obama.
“Past administrations haven’t remained this involved in policymaking, but they haven’t dealt with someone who sought to repeal their entire legacy,” said Darrell West, director of governance studies. “That makes the Obama folks more motivated to stay engaged even though they have left office.”
While GOP efforts to repeal the law have stalled, Democrats worry about the damage Mr. Trump can do unilaterally.
They say he’s wavering on making cost-sharing payments to insurers, and on how strictly to enforce Obamacare’s “individual mandate” requiring most Americans to have coverage or pay a tax penalty.
Mr. Trump also slashed funding for in-person assistance and advertising by more than $100 million ahead of the 2018 enrollment period, which runs until Dec. 15 — far less time than previous enrollments ran.
The Trump administration says it isn’t interested in bolstering a law it views as hopelessly flawed.
Recent polls suggest Obamacare is getting more popular, yet actually signing people up could be tougher than ever.
Roughly 10 million Americans hold insurance they purchased on the exchanges — far fewer than initially estimated by scorekeepers when Obamacare passed in 2010. Analysts say it might be difficult to expand the program’s customer base.
While taxpayer-funded subsidies blunt the costs for more than eight in 10 exchange customers, unsubsidized customers might be scared off by higher rates, and the exchanges suffered their first year-over-year drop in sign-ups for 2017.
Analysts said enrollment was trending upward until Mr. Trump was sworn and pulled advertising, suggesting a lack of outreach can dampen interest in the portals.
The pro-Obamacare campaign says it’s looking beyond Mr. Obama’s old team for high-profile advocates. So far, it’s signed on former insurance executive Mario Molina and actors Alyssa Milano and Bradley Whitford.
Though he’s not a former Obama staffer, Mr. Whitford did serve a fictional liberal president as a cast member on television’s “The West Wing.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.