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Millions To Be Spent On 'Covered California' Health-Care Outreach

SACRAMENTO (KCBS)—Millions of dollars will be spent encouraging people to sign up for health insurance when open enrollment in California's insurance exchange begins Oct. 1. An outreach campaign will include media buys, community meetings and even door-to-door visits.

More than $300 million could be spent encouraging people to sign up for Covered California, the state's health care exchange that is part of the Affordable Care Act, and Daniel Zingale with the California Endowment said his organization will be spending $130 million of its own money on outreach.

Millions To Be Spent On 'Covered California' Outreach Campaign

"We have to take use of all the media outlets available. We have to do a lot of work on the ground where communities themselves are engaged and reaching and enrolling people," he said.

Federal dollars also will be spent, and Stanford political scientist Bruce Cain said the government knows that getting people, especially young adults, will be challenging.

"They understand that this going to be tough sell that public opinion polls show that the health care reforms are still unpopular and that younger people are very skeptical about why they have to pay for health care insurance when they are very healthy," he said.

The mandate to buy health insurance will begin Jan. 1.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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