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The Trump administration is slashing spending on advertising and promotion for enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, a move some critics charged was a blatant attempt to sabotage the law. Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services, who insisted on not being identified during a conference call with reporters, said on Thursday that the advertising budget for the open enrollment period that starts in November would be cut to $10 million, compared with $100 million spent by the Obama administration last year, a drop of 90 percent. Additionally, grants to about 100 nonprofit groups, known as navigators, that help people enroll in health plans offered by the insurance marketplaces will be cut to a total of $36 million, from about $63 million. (Goodnough and Pear, 8/31)

The announcement late Thursday afternoon, just nine weeks before the start of the fifth annual enrollment season, is the first indication of how an administration determined to overturn the health-care law will oversee the window for new and returning consumers buying coverage for 2018. In a conference call with reporters, three federal health officials extended the White House’s pattern of denigrating the ACA and its effectiveness. They also reversed a promise that Health and Human Services staff had made two months ago to nearly 100 organizations receiving “navigator” grants that their funding would be renewed. (Goldstein, 8/31)

The administration is also cutting grants to organizations that help consumers understand their coverage and financial-aid options under the law. HHS will give $36.8 million in grants in 2017 to such groups, known as “navigators,” a drop of about 40% from the $62.5 million awarded in the previous enrollment period. Agency officials said they are basing that funding on the navigators’ ability to reach their enrollment goals. An organization that met 30% of its sign-up goal, for example, would get 30% of the grant it had previously received. (Armour and Wilde Mathews, 8/31)

Administration officials said that five years into the Affordable Care Act, most people know they need to sign up and what their options are, and that there is no evidence that more advertising leads to higher enrollment. Last year’s $100 million advertising budget was double that of 2015’s. (Bluth and Galewitz, 8/31)

“A health-care system that has caused premiums to double and left nearly half of our counties with only one coverage option is not working," said HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley. "The Trump administration is determined to serve the American people instead of trying to sell them a bad deal.” (Sullivan, 8/31)

Experts who have studied the law or helped run it say otherwise, and that such drastic reductions look more like efforts to let the program wither, as Trump has threatened, two months before sign-ups open. Follow the Trump Administration’s Every Move Follow the Trump Administration’s Every Move “It seems perfectly appropriate to review outreach efforts and see if they can be done more efficiently, but these cuts are quite large,” said Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group. “There’s no doubt that cuts to outreach and advertising will result in more people uninsured.” (Tracer and Edney, 8/31)

Margaret Murray, CEO of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, said the decision to cut advertising is disappointing and will make it harder to attract younger consumers who don't prioritize health insurance. "We're concerned this will depress enrollment particularly among younger, healthier people," Murray said. "Our plans are committed to getting people in, but you need the force of the federal government." (Livingston, 8/31)

Scaling back advertising and outreach is likely to depress enrollment in the marketplaces, particularly among healthier customers who, compared to sicker patients, are less likely to seek out insurance. Healthier customers are vital to balancing out the costs of sicker customers in the insurance marketplaces. “The Trump administration is deliberately attempting to sabotage our health care system," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. "When the number of people with health insurance declines and costs skyrocket, the American people will know who's to blame.” (Pradhan, 8/31)

Top Democrats blasted the Trump administration on Thursday for moving to slash funding for ObamaCare advertising and enrollment outreach. "The Trump administration is deliberately attempting to sabotage our health care system. When the number of people with health insurance declines and costs skyrocket, the American people will know who's to blame," Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. (Delk, 8/31)