March Madness: Obama's Bracket Will Be Used To Push ObamaCare

March has been a busy month for news. We have the crisis in the Ukraine and Crimea, the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan that is floundering, the missing Malaysian airliner which may be part of a  terrorist plot that is still unfolding, and oh! The president’s NCAA bracket!

Via @JohnEkdahl at AoSHQ:

That’s right, the Obama administration plans to use March Madness as a vehicle to push ObamaCare on young invincibles. Especially young male invincibles.

Health care officials are launching a new marketing campaign wrapped around the NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments that start this week.

Starting Monday, Obama, some of his aides and celebrity athletes who back the health care plan will conduct interviews, make public service ads and use social media appeals as a key deadline looms on March 31.

Citing the popularity of college basketball during the tournament season known as March Madness, White House senior communications adviser Tara McGuinness said, “We’re putting on a full-court press to remind our fellow fans that there are two weeks left to sign up for quality, affordable health insurance.”

On Monday, Obama — who is planning to release his annual NCAA tournament picks this week — will be interviewed by the Univision Radio program Locura Deportiva (“Sports Madness”). That session tips off a string of interviews with administration officials seeking to sell the health care plan.

If Obama’s brackets fail to impress the holdouts – there’s also a sketchy ObamaCare Sweepstakes, where people can win cash prizes for signing up for ObamaCare.

With roughly two weeks left in the open enrollment period for health insurance, some groups are trying to sell Obamacare to young people in terms they might actually understand: music, comedy, and cash.

Young Invincibles , a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that is focused on the economic issues affecting young adults, launched a sweepstakes last week where it is awarding a cash prize of $1,200 — enough to potentially cover a year’s worth of health insurance premiums for a young adult — to people who download their health care app or submit a card in the mail. 

The contest runs through the fall, but by launching it now, organizers hope young people who download the app can use it to learn more about whether they qualify for financial assistance and where they should go to sign up. “This last month is going to be a huge push for educating young adults,” says Jen Mishory, deputy director for Young Invincibles.

I’ll be so glad when this month is over.