David Bransfield, a state outreach coordinator for Young Invincibles, a group that supports President Barack Obama’s health care law, works on his computer at a table set up to sign people up for health care at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington. An army of workers and volunteers has fanned out around the country trying to enroll young and healthy people in health insurance now available through Obama’s signature law.WASHINGTON – Facing a rapidly approaching deadline, the White House and its allies are racing to enroll young people in new insurance plans offered under President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, a sweeping effort that underscores how crucial the so-called “young invincibles” are to the measure’s success.
An army of workers and volunteers is targeting people between the ages of 18 and 34 on college campuses, in bars, and even in laundromats. The recruiting effort is based in part on lessons learned from Obama’s presidential races, which revolutionized the way campaigns tracked voters.
“On the campaign, you want to be able to find an Obama voter, and you want to get them to vote,” said Matt Saniie, who worked on the 2012 campaign’s data team and is now analytics director at the organization Enroll America. “In the enrollment world, you want to find someone who is uninsured, and you want to get them to enroll.”
More than any other group, participation from the young invincibles will be crucial to the law’s success. Young people tend to be healthier, and the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that they need to make up about 40 percent of enrollment in the new health program to balance out the higher costs of insuring older, sicker people.
David Bransfield is among those trying to track down the young and uninsured. Armed with an Apple laptop and a pile of fliers, Bransfield sets up a table nearly every day in the lobby of University of the District of Columbia classroom building.