Hawai‘i Health Connector Launches Public Awareness Campaign

News Release from Hawaii Health Connector

HONOLULU, August 20, 2013 — The Hawai‘i Health Connector today announced that it is launching a marketing campaign to help generate greater awareness of Hawai‘i’s new health insurance marketplace. The public awareness campaign includes print, broadcast and online advertisements, in addition to ongoing participation in community engagement events and other outreach. Open enrollment for Hawai‘i residents is October of this year.

“In addition to the work of our contact center and marketplace assisters, this public awareness campaign will help to further inform Hawai‘i residents about the Connector,” said Coral Andrews, Hawai‘i Health Connector’s executive director. “We want to make sure all Hawaii residents, not just the uninsured, know that the Hawai‘i Health Connector is the place they can compare, shop and enroll in a qualified health plan.”

The Connector’s advertising campaign, produced in Hawai‘i, highlights the types of benefits residents and small businesses can expect when the system goes live in October. In addition, to help support awareness efforts, the Connector’s website has been updated to include new tools such as a tax credit eligibility calculator, a step-by-step preview video and a preparedness kit.

“We are taking a multichannel approach to informing Hawai‘i residents about the Connector,” said Rick Budar, the Hawai‘i Health Connector’s chief marketing officer. “Our goal is to generate as much awareness as possible for the upcoming open enrollment period.”

Ahead of today’s announcement, the Connector has been busy working with stakeholders to share their progress. To date, the Connector has:

• Presented to over 100 different business and professional organizations statewide
• Trained ten island leads or Alaka‘i, who will manage regions for the Hi‘i Ola program.
• Partnered with community organizations to develop and implement in-person marketplace assisters, called Kōkua, having recently put forward $6.7 million to 34 community organizations to fund 191 marketplace assisters.
• Established a locally-operated contact center for all inquiries that opens on September 15th.
• Participated in dozens of community events.
• Lead a Talk Story event with state legislators in Makiki and other are planned.

The Connector’s online marketplace will go live on October 1, 2013 to offer qualified health plans, which will be effective January 1, 2014. The Connector’s aim is to build an exchange that is of Hawai‘i for Hawai‘i, and that takes into account the state’s unique culture and preserves the Prepaid Health Care Act.

For more information about the Connector, please visit www.HawaiiHealthConnector.com.

About the Hawai‘i Health Connector

The Hawai‘i Health Connector is the online health insurance marketplace for Hawai‘i. The Connector was established as a non-profit organization in 2011 by the Hawai‘i State Legislature through Act 205, in order to comply with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010. The Connector’s aim is an online marketplace that is of Hawai‘i-for-Hawai‘i, one that takes into account the State’s unique culture and works with the Prepaid Health Care Act, an employer mandate for health insurance coverage in effect since 1974. For more information, visit www.Hawaiihealthconnector.com.

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