While the federal government slashed the federal health insurance exchange's advertising budget by 90 percent for 2018 compared to the year prior, California's exchange is significantly investing in ads, according to Kaiser Health News.
The publication's graph of Covered California's 2018 ad spending shows $45 million devoted to paid advertising for the current enrollment period. This $45 million, which comes from the state exchange's overall $111.5 million marketing and outreach budget, includes $18.1 million for television, $9.7 million for digital display and $8.3 million for radio ads. For comparison purposes, the federal government's advertising budget for HealthCare.gov is $10 million compared to $100 million the year prior.
In the report, Covered California leaders and consumer health advocates argue the state exchange's ad budget is necessary amid federal efforts to dismantle the ACA, a shorter enrollment period this time around in most states and the federal government's decision to end cost-sharing subsidies to insurers.
But other healthcare experts contend the money should go toward other efforts such as decreasing premiums rather than marketing, according to the report.
Nearly 1.5 million people signed up for coverage through HealthCare.gov in the first two weeks of the 2018 open enrollment, which began Nov. 1 and ends Dec. 15. That's more than the number of people who signed up for coverage in the first two weeks of 2017 open enrollment. Covered California saw 48,000 new consumers sign up as of Nov. 14, up from the same period last year.
Read the full report here.