Cristy Li

ObamaCare California Navigators –Image: John C. Stires

(LA Daily News) ObamaCare is a hard sell especially in California and with the state’s healthcare exchange scheduled to open in just 37 days supporters are becoming desperate.

Covered California spokesman Larry Hicks said in an email, Our community outreach educators (ObamaCare Navigators/Monitors) were chosen from a variety of organizations that know their communities inside and out and from all income levels.

Many of the organizations that received some of the $37 Million in grants to sell ObamaCare in California to the public (If its so good, why are people not beating down the door wanting to sign-up? –I digress) are traditionally focused on low income populations.

For the first time in their careers of social work (ObamaCare Navigators–Monitors, Outreach Workers) some 2,200 must reach a population in many way more skeptical of “reform” than the poor: California’s ethnically diverse  working and middle class.

“The target group is difficult. We’re still trying to develop a strategy on how to reach this community,” said Wendy Zheng.”We mainly target lower income families–looking for a population up to 400% higher than the federal poverty level.”

Should people not sign-up for ObamaCare, they’ll be hit with a tax penalty of $95 per individual–$285 per family or 1% of their income whatever is greater. By 2015 the tax penalty rises to $695 per individual–$2,085 per family or 2.5% of their income.

Good luck in collecting them tax penalties from the ‘ObamaCare target group’ in a tough California economy with health insurance rates expecting to rise from 64% to 146% during a deepening jobless crisis across the state.