Esports, meet the White House. The Electronic Sports League (ESL) and the Obama administration are teaming up to get more gamers signed up for health insurance.
The enrollment deadline to receive healthcare in the United States under the Affordable Care Act, the national healthcare system put in place by the White House sometimes labelled “Obamacare,” is Feb. 15 on Healthcare.gov. As such the White House has partnered with as many organizations as possible to promote enrollment, including ones in esports like the ESL and streaming titan Twitch.
The video features Evil Geniuses StarCraft 2 player and personality Geoff “iNcontroL” Robinson and his wife Anna Prosser talking about a blood clot Robinson suffered in Jan. 2013, one he was able to take care of thanks to health insurance. But many gamers don’t have insurance, and only think about it sparingly, Joshua “Clutch” Gray, esports commentator and host, says.
This isn’t the first time the White House has marshaled internet constituencies to promote Affordable Care. In March of last year, FunnyOrDie.com hosted an interview between President Obama and Zach Galifianakis on the comedian’s show “Between Two Ferns.” The strategy was a success.
http://t.co/FrO24hdvcA is the #1 source of referrals to http://t.co/0r93BavlrV right now.
— Tara McGuinness (@Tara44) March 11, 2014
While the reach of the ESL may not be nearly so high, the ESL’s Anna Rozwandowicz told HuffPost that they’re able to touch “several hundred thousand” with their message.
If that saves the lives of any budding gamers, like Robinson, it’s certainly a cause worth getting behind.
H/T HuffingtonPost
