Should HHS Not be Allowed to Spend Fees It Collects On Ads For Obamacare Exchanges? (H.R. 182)

What is H.R. 182?

(Updated September 10, 2018)

This bill would prohibit the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) from spending any fees it collects on advertising health insurance exchanges themselves or plans offered on them.

Argument in favor

HHS shouldn’t be using fees it collects to run advertisements promoting the Obamacare exchanges, especially now that the Affordable Care Act will likely be repealed.

Argument opposed

TV advertisements are a good way of notifying consumers about how easy it is to buy health insurance on HealthCare.gov and should continue until Obamacare is replaced.

Impact

People who would’ve otherwise seen advertisements and visited a health insurance exchange; and HHS.

Cost of H.R. 182

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: In 2015, HHS budgeted $35 million dollars to run TV ads in English and Spanish across 38 states that used HealthCare.gov rather than their own exchange.

Media:

• Fox News (Context)
  
• Morning Consult (Context)
  
• Politico (Context)