Direct enrollment option may spur more insurer ads and other news

You may start seeing more health insurers advertising to promote Obamacare enrollment since HHS announced last week that consumers can sign up for subsidized coverage directly through the insurers rather than being able to do so only through the troubled HealthCare.gov website. As the federal website for sign-ups in 36 states has struggled, making it hard for people to enroll, ad spending to promote signing up for health insurance tapered off. In late October, spending by insurers, HHS and state-run exchanges peaked at $8 million but has since declined.

Joseph Swedish, CEO of WellPoint, said last week that his insurance company had “pulled back from marketing, not knowing how to get people enrolled at the moment.”

But if people are able to sign up for coverage through an insurer's website and still qualify for a federal premium tax credit, some observers predict that insurers will step up their advertising to urge people to check them out online. Federal rules require insurers doing direct enrollment to inform applicants about other insurers' offerings, but few expect consumers to go elsewhere once they have contacted an insurer to buy a plan.

“I can see health insurance advertisers once again regaining their confidence in the marketplace and begin to make up some of the momentum they lost,” said Scott Roskowski, senior vice president of marketing at the Television Bureau of Advertising.

Follow Rachel Landen on Twitter: @MHrlanden