The nonprofit organization spearheading the effort to enroll Americans under President Barack Obama’s health care law officially started Tuesday, with more than 50 events scheduled this week across the country in settings ranging from farmers’ markets to churches.
Enroll America, which is led by several former Obama campaign staffers, plans to target the uninsured in multiple ways: knocking on doors, advertising on television and radio and partnering with churches, civic groups, hospitals and celebrities.
The Get Covered America campaign begins 3½ months before people can start to enroll in the health care insurance exchanges on Oct. 1. The exchanges — new online health insurance marketplaces — represent perhaps the most tangible piece of the Affordable Care Act, the president’s signature legislative accomplishment.
A lot is riding on the effort.
“If they don’t know about it, they won’t enroll. That’s where Get Covered America comes in,” Anne Filipic, president of Enroll America, told reporters on a conference call on Tuesday.