De Blasio Launches 'GETCOVEREDNYC' to Boost Obamacare Signups Before Trump Era

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Mayor de Blasio stopped by Gouverneur Health on the Lower East Side Tuesday to launch a new campaign, GetCoveredNYC, to boost Obamacare signups before the Trump presidency begins.

"You know, let’s be honest about the moment we’re in. There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of fear about the potential loss of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and President-elect Trump has made very clear he intends to repeal it," de Blasio said. "We as New Yorkers need to fight back, and right now one of the best ways to fight back is to sign up the maximum number of people for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act."

About 1.6 million New Yorkers have already signed up for health insurance because of the ACA, de Blasio said.

The goal is to enroll 50,000 more New Yorkers in the course of the next 12 months, since insurance will last for a meaningful amount of time as the fight over the future of ACA continues.

The current Obamacare enrollment period ends on Jan. 31, and the campaign will continue to the next open enrollment period in Nov. of 2017, de Blasio said.

"The more and more Americans that sign up for the ACA, the harder it is to take it away," de Blasio said.

There are almost half a million New Yorkers who are eligible under the ACA and don't have insurance. Workers are making phone calls and home visits to these people—mainly in low-income neighborhoods like Sunset Park, Bushwick, West Queens and the South Bronx, de Blasio said. These are neighborhoods served by the public hospital system, so most of the residents usually go there for emergency care at no cost.

The GetCoveredNYC campaign will cost $8 million, between campaign advertising and paying the workers who will go out and enroll people. de Blasio said officials expect to make that money back "many times over" in terms of savings at the Health and Hospitals system, which cares for the uninsured.

"I think this is going to get real complicated real quick for the Republicans," de Blasio said. "And we want to make it even more complicated by increasing the number of people who are signed up."

Shutterstock Photo