PORTLAND — With its troubled health insurance exchange portal still not working, Cover Oregon says it has suspended its optimistic, feel-good advertising campaign after spending more than $8 million on it this year.
Cover Oregon spokesman Michael Cox said Thursday that television, radio and newspaper ads should no longer be running, while the “Long Live Oregonians” billboards will come down as payment expires.
The exchange has had to rely exclusively on paper applications and had to hire more than 400 workers to process them.
An estimated 36,000 Oregonians have thus far enrolled through Cover Oregon, including about 12,000 in private health insurance and about 24,000 in the Oregon Health Plan.
Cox said Cover Oregon will revise its ad strategy next year “to meet our needs through the open enrollment period”
