Armed with an Apple laptop and a pile of fliers, he's part of the army of workers and volunteers fanned out around the country trying to enroll young — and probably healthy — people in health insurance available through President Barack Obama's signature law. Run largely by groups with close ties to the White House, the on-the-ground recruiting effort is based in part on lessons learned from Obama's two presidential bids, which revolutionized the way campaigns tracked and targeted voters. With Chapman's personal information now in Enroll America's system, volunteers will almost certainly keep tabs on her enrollment status through the March 31 deadline, mirroring the way the Obama campaign kept track of likely Democratic voters. [...] outside groups are compiling their own databases through contacts their volunteers make while they're promoting the health law at colleges, bars, church youth group events, even laundromats. Komongnan thought he had health insurance, but when a bad ear infection brought him to the emergency room last year, he was told he no longer had coverage. Because his school requires students to have health insurance, he had to sign up for coverage through the college that costs nearly $700 per semester. While Komongnan's health insurance costs will be reduced dramatically, he doesn't count toward the pool of young and healthy people the White House is courting since he's getting coverage through Medicaid, not the new private marketplace.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 17 hours ago.
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