Covered California Wins National Public Relations Award for Enrollment and Outreach Efforts

• Covered California was recognized for its bus tour promoting enrollment in health insurance across the state with community partners.
• Outreach helped attract a good mix of insurance consumers to help keep premiums low.
• The award was for the “Best in Public Sector” work in the industry.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California’s outreach and earned media efforts to promote enrollment have been recognized by the prestigious PRWeek US Awards, which celebrate the best in public relations and public affairs work.  

Covered California, working in partnership with Ogilvy Public Relations, was recognized as the “2017 Best in Public Sector” awardee for the 2015–16 “Spotlight on Coverage” campaign and bus tour.

The campaign focused on reaching California’s diverse communities and helped drive awareness and enrollment. The Spotlight on Coverage bus tour traveled 2,500 miles and included 42 stops in communities across the state.

“This award is not just for Covered California, but for the many community partners across the state who have worked with us to get the word out about affordable health coverage,” said Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California. “Attracting what actuaries call a good ‘risk mix’ requires strategic thinking and investment, and we are very proud to be recognized for the hard work involved in this outreach campaign.”

Covered California currently has about 1.3 million consumers enrolled in coverage through its exchange, and has one of the nation’s best “risk mixes,” the term actuaries use to indicate the ratio of younger and healthier consumers to those who may have chronic conditions or need more care.

Covered California’s initial analysis showed that the number of young adults signing up for 2017 coverage comprised a large proportion of its new enrollees for the second consecutive year.

Young adults in the crucial 18- to 34-year-old demographic accounted for an estimated 37 percent of this year’s plan selections, compared to 38 percent in the open-enrollment period for 2016, 34 percent for the open-enrollment period for 2015 and 29 percent for the open-enrollment period in 2014.

Lee credited supporters across the state with helping make the enrollment tour a success.

“We cannot do this work alone,” he said. “We’re grateful for the support we have from strong partners — government, business and nonprofit health advocates — who work with us to promote the importance of health insurance coverage.”

About Covered California
Covered California is the state’s health insurance marketplace, where Californians can find affordable, high-quality insurance from top insurance companies. Covered California is the only place where individuals who qualify can get financial assistance on a sliding scale to reduce premium costs. Consumers can then compare health insurance plans and choose the plan that works best for their health needs and budget. Depending on their income, some consumers may qualify for the low-cost or no-cost Medi-Cal program.

Covered California is an independent part of the state government whose job is to make the health insurance marketplace work for California’s consumers. It is overseen by a five-member board appointed by the governor and the legislature. For more information about Covered California, please visit www.CoveredCA.com.