Hundreds of millions in taxpayers money will be saved with these cuts.
Advertising will be cut to $10 million, down from $100 million spent on 2017 signups, Health and Human Services officials said. Funding for consumer helpers called “navigators” will also be cut, to $36.8 million for next year from $62.5 million for 2017.
HHS officials announced the promotional cutbacks in a conference call with reporters. None of the three officials who described the details of the cuts wanted to be identified by name.
By comparison, HHS said the combined advertising budget for Medicare Advantage and Medicaid prescription drug plans is $9.7 million.