The Obama administration is actively considering a plan to recruit NFL players and other professional athletes as a means of persuading more young, healthy Americans to sign up for health insurance
According to Kaiser Health New, Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius confirmed earlier this week the administration is talking to the NFL and other sports franchises about promoting the new insurance exchanges that will begin enrolling people Oct. 1 as part of the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
There is a precedent for this method of promotion; in 2006 the Boston Red Sox filmed a commercial promoting Massachusetts' all-encompassing healthcare law that was about to go into effect.
“We know the Red Sox were incredibly effective in Massachusetts ... so it's a logical place to go," Sebelius told Syracuse News.com.
Under Obamacare, nearly all Americans must have health insurance by Jan. 1 or face a penalty that begins at $95 in 2014 and rises to 2.5 percent of annual income in 2016.
Healthy young men, who often avoid signing up for insurance unless it's offered by an employer, are needed as customers for the new insurance exchanges created under Obamacare to help health plans balance the risk of covering older and sicker Americans, according to Business Week.
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