Magic Johnson: #GetCovered Because Earlier Detection Can Save ... [View all]

After a month of marketing the federal exchange site as “not broken anymore,” the White House has tossed the ball to Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning in new ads touting health insurance to begin running Thursday. Both men offered up their help for free, said Julie Bataille, communications director at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Their ads will spark a full-court press effort to get young people — in particular, young men — to sign up for health insurance before enrollment ends March 31. The ads, part of a $52 million campaign in digital, TV and radio advertising for the first quarter of 2014, will air on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBAtv during NBA games.

Johnson and Mourning say they discovered their ailments and received treatment because they had health insurance. Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1991, but had no idea he was sick until after a full exam from his doctor, something he says wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t insured. Mourning’s cousin, retired Marine Jason Cooper, donated his kidney to Mourning in 2003 after Mourning was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease. ”I was at the top of my game,” Mourning says in his ad spot. “I felt invincible, but when I went for my regular team physical, it turned out I had serious kidney disease. It was caught in time to treat, and lucky for me, I was insured.”

Found on http://theobamadiary.com/

More here:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/16/celebrity-ads-meant-to-jump-start-health-exchanges/4495555/

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"But people are signing up right now as we speak, and the big push for enrollment is just getting underway," Jost said.

Now is the time for the government to start advertising, Jost said, because the HealthCare.gov website is working.

While the new advertising campaign is focused on young men, women will not be left out, Bataille said. Canvassers will visit farmers' markets and college campuses, particularly community colleges, to encourage enrollment. There will also be an intense online market campaign through social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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