About 10 million Latinos stand to gain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and the Spanish-language media network Univision is positioning itself as a direct path to this potentially lucrative market.
WellPoint and other Blues insurers in six states, including New Jersey, have signed deals with Univision for undisclosed sums to be the exclusive health-insurance sponsor of the network’s Peabody-award winning health initiative, “Salud Es Vida,” which means “Health Is Life.”
The deals include a special plan-sponsored Univision website that will be able to connect Latinos with coverage on the online markets, or exchanges, that will serve individuals beginning in October. But it’s a path that could take a detour around some competitors who are offering plans: Because of a little-known rule proposed by the administration in June, customers will be able to buy their subsidized Obamacare insurance directly from the insurer.
The rule allows a customer to be sent briefly to a special section of the federal or state-run marketplaces only to see whether their income qualifies them for subsidized coverage, and then customers can go back to the WellPoint or Blues site to buy their coverage. These customers may not necessarily see the other options for insurance available on the exchange, and the other plans may cost less or include a wider provider network.
WellPoint, which owns for-profit Blues plans in 14 states, recently bought into the Univision partnerships in California, New York, Colorado, and Georgia. Two nonprofit plans have also signed Univision partnerships: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, and Florida Blue. Obamacare open enrollment begins Oct. 1.
Steve Mandala, Univision’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, said that any insurer material on the plan-sponsored sites will be clearly labeled as advertisements or sponsored content and will not impact the editorial independence of Univision’s news coverage.
Date: August 6, 2013