7.1 million. That’s the number of Americans who signed up for health care coverage during the first enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act, wildly exceeding cynical expectations after a slow start.
7.1 million. That’s the number that should forever silence the misguided critics who have clung to short-term political posturing, while the President and Obamacare supporters played an organized, focused, long-term ground game.
And, 7.1. million is not even the full extent of Obamacare’s reach. This only includes people who signed up for private health care plans through the Obamacare marketplace. More than three million young people under 26 have coverage; 11.7 million are now eligible for insurance under the Medicaid expansion; and the off-exchange health care plans add millions more people to Obamacare’s success. Not to mention the thousands of people who signed up for health coverage today — and who will again tomorrow.
All of this despite millions of dollars in anti-Obamacare advertisements. All of this despite years of lies and distortions about death panels and other nonsense. All of this despite a disastrous website rollout and an onslaught of terrible press coverage.
Press narratives will point to Galifianakis and President Obama on “Between Two Ferns” as a catalyst for the last minute surge. Others will focus on LeBron James’ endorsement. Those things mattered.
But, the untold story is the organizing work of thousands of volunteers and countless organizations. The nationwide organizing effort around enrollment demonstrated yet again the power of grassroots organizing to change the world.
On Wednesday, Enroll America put out a brilliant data-driven analysis of their enrollment organizing lessons. The main takeaway is that organizing works — when you invest in community organizing amplified with digital support and analytical sophistication, you can reach people and engage them.
When you are trying to reach people in poor and marginalized communities, you need to show up. You need to show up more than once. And, you need to have a message that matters to people. When your message resonates with the people you are trying to reach, they take action.
Over the past year plus, an army of activists reached out to Americans in their neighborhoods — whether it was at their church, outside their grocery store, at their front door, or online — to spread the word about Affordable Care Act.
National groups like Enroll America, the Service Employees International Union, Organizing for Action, and Planned Parenthood invested in organizing — in real community organizing. Thousands of local groups did the same. The White House worked tirelessly with advocacy groups across the country to promote and help people get coverage — with a focus on cities with the highest numbers of uninsured. This localized strategy is what made the difference.
It was never easy. Washington insiders and old-school consultants told them to put all of their money on TV ads and constantly questioned their boots-on-the-ground tactics. The press decried their efforts and questioned their ability to get it done. Extremists in the Republican Party lampooned their organizing work Sarah Palin-style.
But, they never stopped. They never gave up. They knew that their organizing was working. They were analyzing their conversion rates along the way. They were building the foundation to be able to handle a late surge in enrollments in the same way a good political campaign builds for a get-out-the-vote operation.
Tuesday’s announcement was as sweet a validation of organizing as I have ever seen. To all of the Organizers out there who enrolled people, who got the message out through their online organizing, who built coalitions at the local level — to those who did not lose faith when the press and all of the political experts told them they were bound for failure. You are all heroes. You are history book writers who will change this country forever — one conversation, one email, one local event at a time.
