Proposed health care reform magazine ad developed by Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (click for larger)
At last week’s Arkansas Health Care Benefits Exchange Summit in Little Rock, event organizers mentioned some ad products that had been prepared to promote the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare launch in the state. Some of the ad materials were presented at the summit meeting, but have not been available to the public.
UNTIL TODAY!
I requested copies of the materials that had been developed under the $1 million planning grant the state had received from the federal government to plan the state health insurance exchange. The Arkansas Insurance Department (AID) kindly provided said materials, as seen here.
The ads had originally been planned to run this month, but AID spokeslady Alice Jones says these efforts are on hold, since Gov. Mike Beebe elected not to pursue the next stage federal grant for establishing the exchange. All the products were developed under the banner of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.
At the top of the post is a magazine ad targeted at small businesses, aimed at selling them on the benefits of Obamacare in general and the state health insurance exchange specifically (you can click the image for a version that is larger but still kind of hard to read). AID also provided a direct mail piece that reflects the same design theme and message as the magazine ad.
Meanwhile, click on the audio player below to hear a 60-second radio spot pitching the “good news for business owners” message:
[podcast]http://www.thearkansasproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/X2ad.mp3[/podcast]
“The bad news? There is no bad news!” the overcaffeinated announcer tells us. Well, OK, then!
That means we can ignore these studies from, say, Wisconsin and Ohio showing that the the health care reform law will only lead to higher health insurance premiums. Or the McKinsey survey from this summer suggesting that many more employers will drop health insurance when Obamacare kicks in than had been previously expected. Fear not! There is no bad news!
(Incidentally, in response to an Arkansas Project reader inquiry, the Health Care Benefits Summit cost $10,023.64, according to AID. This, too, was paid for with funds from the federal planning grant, and the event was required under the terms of the grant. The cost was offset somewhat by 111 attendees who paid $25 each to attend, Ms. Jones informs me.)
It’s all in keeping with the point that, despite what you may have been told or led to believe, the state health insurance exchange is alive and well and completely and totally a thing and is being set up right now, regardless of what they claim. That’s the bad news. The good news? There is no good news! Have a good weekend!
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