WellPoint CEO Joe Swedish remains optimistic that millions of uninsured Americans will flock to the insurance exchanges once the government irons out its technical problems.
“We've gotten 10,000 calls per day from the very beginning of Oct. 1,” he told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. “There is incredible top-line awareness on the part of people who are seeking information and I would argue want to enroll.”
The head of the nation's second largest private insurer admitted enrollment so far has been “anemic.” Yet he feels “very good about our potential going forward.” He called doomsayers victims of “irrational pessimism.”
He promised a major outreach campaign once the government overcomes its infrastructure problems. “We will be communicating with the young, with the Hispanic community, with the older adults. I think there is an uptake here that has yet to be witnessed.”
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