TY - JOUR
T1 - Health Insurance Ad Messages Targeted to English- and Spanish-Speaking Populations in a Period of Limited Federal Investment in Marketplace Outreach
AU - Pando, Cynthia
AU - Tait, Margaret Ellen
AU - McGuire, Cydney M.
AU - Perez-Sanz, Sarah
AU - Baum, Laura
AU - Fowler, Erika Franklin
AU - Gollust, Sarah E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Federal funding cuts to enrollment outreach and marketing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace options in 2017 has raised questions about the adequacy of the information the public has received, especially among populations vulnerable to uninsurance. Using health insurance ads aired from January 1, 2018, through December 21, 2018, we conducted a content analysis focused on (a) the messaging differences by ad language (English vs. Spanish) and (b) the messaging appeals used by nonfederally sponsored health insurance ads in 2018. The results reveal that privately sponsored ads focused on benefit appeals (e.g., prescription drugs), while publicly sponsored ads emphasized financial assistance subsidies. Few ads, regardless of language, referenced the ACA explicitly and privately sponsored Spanish-language ads emphasized benefits (e.g., choice of doctor) over enrollment-relevant details. This study emphasizes that private-sponsored television marketing may not provide specific and actionable health insurance information to the public, especially for the Spanish-speaking populations.
AB - Federal funding cuts to enrollment outreach and marketing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace options in 2017 has raised questions about the adequacy of the information the public has received, especially among populations vulnerable to uninsurance. Using health insurance ads aired from January 1, 2018, through December 21, 2018, we conducted a content analysis focused on (a) the messaging differences by ad language (English vs. Spanish) and (b) the messaging appeals used by nonfederally sponsored health insurance ads in 2018. The results reveal that privately sponsored ads focused on benefit appeals (e.g., prescription drugs), while publicly sponsored ads emphasized financial assistance subsidies. Few ads, regardless of language, referenced the ACA explicitly and privately sponsored Spanish-language ads emphasized benefits (e.g., choice of doctor) over enrollment-relevant details. This study emphasizes that private-sponsored television marketing may not provide specific and actionable health insurance information to the public, especially for the Spanish-speaking populations.
KW - Affordable Care Act
KW - advertising
KW - health insurance
KW - health insurers
KW - language
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U2 - 10.1177/10775587221101295
DO - 10.1177/10775587221101295
M3 - Article
C2 - 35708017
AN - SCOPUS:85132025346
SN - 1077-5587
VL - 79
SP - 798
EP - 810
JO - Medical Care Research and Review
JF - Medical Care Research and Review
IS - 6
ER -