Healthcare reform is taking on the Olympics. Politico reports that Health and Human Services bought ad time to promote healthcare reform where the potential audience includes a lot of uninsured individuals. Politico says the ads will probably be seen in Houston, Dallas, Tampa and Miami, areas where HHS has been promoting healthcare reform heavily, and that the ads will focus on young people.
This age group has been of particular concern because younger patients rely on the medical system far less than older patients, meaning a payer generally doesn’t have to pay out more than what a youthful insured patient puts in. It is still too early for first-year expense projections to solidify, partly due to early enrollment problems with Healthcare.gov and an extended enrollment period. Experts say models can really coalesce once the insured population group—particularly the number of young insured—is finalized.
