Covered California to throw spotlight – literally – on Sacramento’s Tower Bridge

Covered California officials are launching a 10-day, 29-city bus tour this week that will include shining nightly spotlights on iconic California buildings, including Sacramento’s Tower Bridge and the LAX airport.

Starting Friday in San Diego, the tour will visit several dozen hospitals, community clinics and enrollment sites, part of the state’s third annual open-enrollment season under Obamacare. It ends Nov. 12 in Sacramento.

Dubbed a “spotlight on enrollment,” the tour is illuminating small storefronts as well as well-known buildings, such as San Francisco’s Coit Tower, that will be splashed at night with the Covered California logo. In Sacramento, the lights will be on Sacramento City Hall and the Tower Bridge.

“The point of the bus tour is to bring home the message that health care is local. We still have 2 million Californians who can get health care if they understand what’s available to them,” said Peter Lee, Covered California’s executive director. The 2016 open-enrollment season runs Nov. 1 through Jan. 31.

Most of the estimated 2 million uninsured are eligible for Medi-Cal coverage. It’s the remaining 750,000 – who are eligible for subsidies to reduce their premiums – that state officials are going after. There’s an emphasis this year on African Americans, who represented only 3.6 percent of enrollees last year.

For more information on enrolling: CoveredCa.com or call 800-300-1506.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Covered California to throw spotlight – literally – on Sacramento’s Tower Bridge."