Dive Brief:
- A new study by Kantar Media Campaign Media Analysis Group has concluded that during the first nine and a half months of this year, more than 1.3 million health insurance and political ads referencing health issues aired, roughly half of which reference the ACA.
- Many of the ads, whose backers include HHS, health insurance companies, state exchanges and political campaigns, don't refer to the ACA directly, but instead refer to the legislation as "Obamacare." Of all political ad spots run in 2014 so far, 14% specifically mention the ACA, mostly in a negative context.
- Half of health insurance ads don't mention the ACA, 34% of spots mentioned the ACA in a neutral way, 15% in a positive way and 1% a negative way.
- Republicans included ACA messages in 84% of the political ad spots covering health issues, as compared with 15% for Democrats.
Dive Insight:
One thing that stands out from this research is that health insurance companies are pumping out lots of ads that either favor the ACA or raise awareness with neutral messaging. They clearly consider this important, as spending on health insurance ads sits at almost half a billion dollars (about $482 million), Kantar Media found. While payers are clearly doing some advertising that serves traditional business functions, such as reinforcing their brand and encouraging enrollment, they clearly see the ACA business as a plus for them.
Another point that stands out is that Republican candidates clearly believe that they can win votes of bashing the ACA. The statistics demonstrate that campaigners are portraying the ACA in a negative way, notably in efforts to oust incumbents who support the law. It's not clear whether this strategy will work, as attitudes towards the law have softened, but it does underscore that Republican candidates themselves continue to believe that the health reform effort is a wedge issue for voters.
Unfortunately, the study doesn't address what impact this barrage of advertising has had an consumer perceptions of the ACA. But other evidence suggests that the advertisers might not have gotten what they hoped for from ACA awareness and political advertising. A recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found that less than one in 10 registered voters identified the ACA is the most important issue in determining their vote.