The group founded to promote Obamacare has let about half its staff go.
Over the last few years, Enroll America conducted an organized campaign to spread the word about new health coverage provided under President Obama’s healthcare law. But with year two of enrollment coming to an end, the group is shuttering 100 jobs, the group confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
Founded by Affordable Care Act advocates with close ties to the White House, Enroll America has held events around the country aimed at persuading Americans to sign up. The group wasn’t intended to operate forever, but it is scaling back sooner than some advocates had expected.
Enroll America President Anne Filipic announced the changes in a piece published by Morning Consult on March 13, where she said the group would reduce its staffing and start focusing more on training existing community groups and health providers to publicize health coverage.
“We envision a day when our organization is unnecessary because we’ve made enrollment outreach and support an institutional reality in communities across the country,” she wrote.
The drawdowns are taking place now because the uninsured rate has dropped to a historic low after millions of Americans signed up for health care coverage under the law, according to Filipic.
She wrote that for now, the group will retain a staff of more than 100 people who will work with more than 4,600 partners around the country and will maintain offices in 11 states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.
Enroll American spokesman Justin Nisly said the layoffs had been planned to take place once the second year of Obamacare enrollment ended.
“These changes were done in a thoughtful way, and were planned to coincide with the end of the second open enrollment,” he said.
