Governing board hired ad firm to draw more attention to its insurance exchange
The governing board of the Arkansas health insurance exchange, called the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace, has hired an advertising firm to draw more awareness to the marketplace. The firm, Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods, was contracted for approximately $5.8 million over the next two years. The contract will task the firm with designing a new website for the state’s exchange, which will be used in place of HealthCare.gov and will provide consumers with access to the exchange’s insurance services.
Firm will work to attract people to the state’s health insurance exchange
The firm will also be running advertisements for the exchange across various media, including television and radio. Print advertisements will also be used to draw more support to the state’s health insurance exchange. The firm will be setting up promotional events, as well, and work to raise awareness of the various services that are offered by the insurance exchange. This will include calling attention to the availability of subsidies that can help cover the costs associated with health insurance policies.
State-federal partnership provides Arkansas with some control over its exchange
The state’s health insurance exchange officially began operation in 2013. The marketplace was established using $99.9 million in federal funding. Initially, the state’s exchange had been managed by the federal government, but the state had made a deal to share control of the exchange. Today, the federal-state partnership allows Arkansas to have some influence over the marketplace, especially when it comes to marketing efforts.
Low awareness slows enrollment in insurance exchanges throughout the country
A lack of awareness about health insurance exchanges has been a problem that many states have had to deal with. Low awareness means low enrollment numbers, which means that more people continue to go without the insurance coverage that they need. By raising awareness, more consumers are expected to seek coverage through health insurance exchanges, especially if they learn of the financial aid that they can receive for such coverage. Marketing efforts have been lackluster in some states, which has caused enrollment to slip.
