Marketing Obamacare

In response to President Obama’s re-election, California will spend nearly $90 million next year on marketing and outreach efforts for the state’s health-benefit exchange.

The Affordable Care Act requires states to launch online insurance marketplaces by 2014, with about 4.4 million Californians expected to use the exchange by the end of 2016, according to the Los Angeles Times. State officials are also pushing to finalize a federal-grant proposal for continued funding in preparation for the exchange’s launch, which includes building networks of health-care providers, negotiating rates and designing health-care plans that comply with the exchange’s benefit guidelines.

“The election removes what was really the last distraction from focusing on the job, which is to get millions of Californians enrolled in health coverage,” said Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California.