Wastebook - Senator Tom Coburn - U.S. Senate

Wastebook 20139. Millions Spent Building, Promoting an Insurance Plan Few Want and aWebsite that Doesn’t Work – (Department of Health and Human Services)At least $379 millionWith nearly half-a-billion dollars in government funding put behind promoting a product relativelyfew people seem interested in purchasing from a website that doesn’t work, Obamacare is perhaps thebiggest marketing flop since Coca-Cola introduced the world to “New Coke” in 1985.The cost to build Healthcare.gov is estimated at $319 million so far. 134 “The total amount to be spentnationally on publicity, marketing and advertising will be at least $684 million, according to datacompiled The Associated Press from federal and state sources.” 135As the Washington Post reported on Obamacare’s infamous website Healthcare.gov, “when the Website went live Oct. 1, it locked up shortly after midnight as about 2,000 users attempted to completethe first step.” 136As time went by, things did not much improve.Fewer than 107,000 people had enrolled in Obamacare as of early November, 137 even though more than4.8 million Americans were notified their health insurance plans were canceled as a result of the newObamacare rules and regulations. 138 There were only 23 people per day that enrolled during the firstmonth in the Federal Exchange. 139 And the latest polls show growing opposition to the program, with57 percent of Americans now opposing the Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare.” 140President Obama candidly acknowledged what millions of Americans had concluded after trying touse the new HealthCare.gov website: it was not working:“The rollout of the new health care [website] has been rough, to say the least… We alwaysknew that that was going to be complicated and everybody was going to be paying a lot ofattention to it,” he said. “We should have done a better job getting that right on day one -- noton day 28 or on day 40.” 141A significant part of the response to Healthcare.gov’s failures, however, has been an intensifying adcampaign. “Ads based on research about the uninsured” have already been “popping up on radio, TVand social media. The pitch: If you don’t make much money, the government can pick up some of thecost of your health insurance. If you can afford a policy, by law you have to get one.” 142 Theunintended punch line is the ads direct the uninsured to sign up for a plan on the website.One health insurance company executive questioned “why would you spend $1 million sending peopleto a website that’s broken.” 143 A very good question since administration officials were warned byconsultants in March that the healthcare.gov website was “at risk of failure.” 144 Yet theAdministration went ahead and signed lucrative contracts with a number of big name Washington PRfirms for more than $60 million to promote the site anyway.“In July, HHS inked a $33 million contract with PR giant Weber Shandwick. Centers for Medicareand Medicaid had already signed a $3 million and $8 million contracts. Porter Novelli also has a $20million contract with the agency.” 145 18