Are you covered? President Obama’s new healthcare plan is now in effect and time will tell just how successful it may be. The deadline to sign up has now passed but in the final months prior to the deadline, Obama made a serious push to get young Americans to sign up for coverage by using celebrity spokespeople. In his campaign, the president reached out to approximately 40 different celebrities to endorse the healthcare act and encourage their fans to sign up. Any avid Twitter user has probably noticed celebrity tweets with the hashtag #GetCovered. President Obama even made an appearance on Zach Galifianakis’s Internet show Between Two Ferns, which can be viewed on YouTube from FunnyOrDie. Each show features the awkwardly funny Galifianakis interviewing a different celebrity. In Obama’s interview, he plugs some information about the healthcare act. Some students see these celeb-filled ads as a good way to reach out to younger people who enjoy watching the show. “I saw Obama talk about signing up for the plan on Between Two Ferns,” said Seattle U sophomore Cooper Hayes. “I would sign up for the plan if I were on my own, but for now I am still on my parents’ plan until I am 26.” This is true for many students—because young people have the option to stay on their parents’ plans, many are doing so rather than signing up for Obamacare. “I don’t need the plan until I’m 26,” said sophomore Michael Larson. “When the time comes, I will sign up to use it.” The celebrity campaign was aimed at young Americans but, though a lot of people did sign up, several Seattle U students claim that the celebrity campaign doesn’t make much of a difference for them. “I’ve seen Zach Galifianakis, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert talk about the plan, but the celebrities wouldn’t motivate me to sign up,” said sophomore Innis McComb. “The fact that the plan is inexpensive would make me sign up. I don’t think the celebrity endorsements really help.” Although many people say that they will sign up for the plan once they are responsible for their own healthcare, it is still not necessary for everyone. “Once I am off my parents’ plan, I will get my own insurance through my job with the Department of Transportation,” said senior Matthew Thomas. Although the response from Seattle U students may not have been great, the campaign did have an effect on many Americans. Aside from the satirical methods used by the likes of Galifianakis, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, there are other celebrities that have teamed up with FunnyOrDie, made Planned Parenthood messages and taken to Twitter. The group of celebrities includes movie stars, television stars, comedians, musicians and athletes. By last week’s deadline, 7.1 million Americans signed up for the insurance plan and many more signed up for Medicaid or set up through their parents’ insurance plans. The goal for the new health plan was to get insurance to those Americans who don’t already have it. It was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau that 16 percent of Americans are without health insurance which equates to approximately 48 million people. Of the 7.1 million people that signed up for the new plan, 5.4 million of them did not have insurance before. Additionally, an extra 3

million people signed up for Medicaid, which currently covers 20 percent of Americans. It has also been reported by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association that 80 to 85 percent of the people who signed up for the new health care are already paying their premiums.