The Trump Administration will dramatically cut the government's ad budget supporting Obamacare. The cuts represent a 90% spending reduction for the upcoming enrollment period.
This year,
during a shortened sign-up period from November 1 through December 15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which administers Obamacare, said on Thursday it
would spend just $10 million in advertising -- almost completely slashing the $100 million spent a year ago.
The CMS says it will target consumers this year through digital media,
email and text messages.
Additionally, CNN says it is cutting funding for so-called "navigators" for the program -- those help people sign up for coverage -- by 41%, to $37 million
for the coming enrollment season.
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Last year, 9.2 million people signed up for coverage through the federal exchange, healthcare.gov. In 2015,
CMM spent $51.2 million in advertising and 9.6 million Americans signed on.
In July, after Congress couldn’t pass legislation to change Obamacare, President Trump said: “Let
Obamacare fail. It’ll be a lot easier, and I think we’re probably in that position where we’ll just let Obamacare fail. We’re not going to own it. I’m not going to own
it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it.”
Certain states are going in the other direction.
For example, California plans to spend $111.5 million for
the 2017-2018 open enrollment period, an increase of $5.3 million over a year ago.