Today the government announced that the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, has passed the 6 million signup mark, putting it within striking distance of its original goals.
The enrollment level is notable due to the law’s troubled technological rollout. The catastrophic failure of Healthcare.gov is the stuff of legends now. To accelerate sign-ups and generate more attention, the Obama administration has turned to controversial techniques.
The president’s visit to Between Two Ferns led to some mockery and questioning — was it beneath the office of the presidency to deign to Galifianakis? Whatever your answer to that question is, the video was a smashing success, racking up more than 20 million views across the Funny or Die website and YouTube.
It was, when released, temporarily the largest driver of traffic to Healthcare.gov.
The administration also put the president on the question-and-answer service Quora to discuss healthcare. That debut also marked the launch of verified profiles on Quora, making the news something of a twofer.
The Affordable Care Act will fall short of its initial goals. But not by much. Adding 1 million more enrolees in a 10-day period means that attention is hot and you don’t get that without making a little noise.