After a month of marketing the federal exchange site as "not broken anymore," the White House has tossed the ball to Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning in new ads touting health insurance to begin running Thursday. Both men offered up their help for free, said Julie Bataille, communications director at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Their ads will spark a full-court press effort to get young people -- in particular, young men -- to sign up for health insurance before enrollment ends March 31 (Kennedy, 1/16).
CQ HealthBeat: White House Allies Plan Young Adult Sign-Up Day
A new TV advertisement featuring basketball legend Magic Johnson endorsing the health care law. Paid Internet ads targeting young people on ESPN.com and Hulu. A fresh video on the comedy website Funny or Die. Those are some of the ways that the Obama administration is trying to urge Americans, particularly young adults, to sign up for health care coverage in the last two months of the law's sign-up period (Adams, 1/15).
Fox News: White House Taps Magic Johnson, Alonzo Mourning To Promote Obamacare
The Obama administration has turned to two basketball legends in the hope of driving young people to enroll in Obamacare before the March 31 deadline. USA Today reported that Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning will appear in ads touting healthcare.gov that will begin airing Thursday and be broadcast during NBA games on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBATV. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokeswoman Julie Bataille told USA Today that both men offered to appear in the ads for free (1/16).
