Would you like a health plan with your bargains? Obamacare is pushed at Black Friday as malls across America let civil servants in to hand out fliers for troubled scheme 

  • Assistors passing out flyers at Westfield malls in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Washington
  • HHS is also working with the National Community Pharmacists Association and XO Group, the owner of The Knot, The Nest and The Bump
  • Americans without health insurance must enroll in Obamacare by Feb. 15 or pay a fine

Black Friday shoppers looking for discounts on Christmas gifts and electronics at the mall today may be met by government workers trying to sell them another big ticket item: Obamacare.

The Health and Human Services Department is partnering with Westfield Shopping Centers this weekend to provide deal-seekers with information on health insurance ahead of a Feb. 15 deadline for Americans without coverage to purchase it or pay a fine.

It's also working with the National Community Pharmacists Association and XO Group Inc., the owner of popular websites The Knot, The Nest and The Bump, to promote the federal health exchanges on 'small business Saturday' and 'cyber Monday'.

A healthcare assistor helps an uninsured man sign up for the Affordable Care Act outside the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center in Jackson, Mississippi in October of 2013. Today healthcare navigators are targeting potential new enrollees outside of shopping malls as they flood stores in search of Black Friday sales

A healthcare assistor helps an uninsured man sign up for the Affordable Care Act outside the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center in Jackson, Mississippi in October of 2013. Today healthcare navigators are targeting potential new enrollees outside of shopping malls as they flood stores in search of Black Friday sales

HHS announced a long-term partnership with the three companies this week that will continue through the end of the current open enrollment period.

Select Westfield malls in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Washington will 'provide tables, chairs and other necessary items' for health navigators and assistors and allow them to pass out flyers, an HHS statement on the effort said. 

Per the press release, approximately 425 million consumers shopped at Westfield's properties last year alone, making it's more than 40 locations in the U.S. ripe for the recruitment of new healthcare enrollees.

The National Community of Pharmacists (NPCA), represents roughly 23,000 independent drug stores in the U.S. and its members account dispense close to half of the country's retail prescriptions.

'Community pharmacists will be available to help patients with their health care needs, from medication counseling to accessing insurance coverage, this week just as they do all year,' NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey said in a statement confirming his organization's participation in the HHS outreach events.

'We appreciate Secretary Burwell’s acknowledgment of the contributions of community pharmacists and we encourage consumers to check out their locally owned, community pharmacies this Small Business Saturday.' 

The XO Group is reparterning with HHS, having already helped it sell plans at the end of the open enrollment period last year. The companies online entities are among the premiere wedding planning, home-buying and parenting websites in America.

XO Group CEO Mike Steib said in recent statement his company was 'honored' to be working with the White House. 

A pro-Obamacare post on the company's The Nest site advises users that '100,000 lives could be saved each year, if everyone in the U.S. received recommended clinical preventive care like screenings and checkups with doctors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.'

It goes on to encourage users to use 'cyber Monday' to 'sign up for the best deal of your life on HealthCare.gov by enrolling in health insurance, if you don’t already have a work-based plan.'

This September 2013 photo shows two women affiliated with a pro-Obamacare organization, Organizing for Action, touting the benefits of health coverage to a mother outside a grocery store  in Miami, Florida. The federal government is specifically trying to target new parents for health care insurance

This September 2013 photo shows two women affiliated with a pro-Obamacare organization, Organizing for Action, touting the benefits of health coverage to a mother outside a grocery store in Miami, Florida. The federal government is specifically trying to target new parents for health care insurance

The Health and Human Services Department has employed Michelle Obama to promote the federal health marketplace on popular pregnancy planning website TheBump.com

The Health and Human Services Department has employed Michelle Obama to promote the federal health marketplace on popular pregnancy planning website TheBump.com

An old advisory on The Knot that's being re-purposed for the current Obamacare campaign gives visitors '3 Reasons To #GetCovered.'

'We know this has nothing to do with your or the latest trend for grooms, but this is important. TheKnot.com and our awesome sister sites TheNest.com and TheBump.com have partnered up with The White House to spread the word about the upcoming deadline,' it reads.

'If you aren’t covered now, go to Healthcare.gov and get it done. It’s fast, easy and totally worth the peace of mind.'

A third promotion running on The Bump features a picture of the Obamas and a letter from the first lady giving thanks that she and her husband had jobs that provided healthcare insurance when she was pregnant with their daughters, Sasha and Malia.

'Every mother and every father in this country deserves this kind of peace of mind – and that’s what the Affordable Care Act is all about,' she wrote in the 2014 letter explaining the benefits of Obamacare and how to sign up for coverage.

More than 7 million Americans purchased health insurances through the federal marketplace last year, and HHS has set a goal of increasing that to 9 million by the end of the fiscal year 2015.

Already, close to a half million people have applied, HHS says, and the marketplace has only been open for business since Nov. 15.

'It's still early and we have a long way to go, but we're off to a solid start,' HHS Secretary Slyvia Burwell said this week.

According to Reuters 52 percent of the 462,125 people of this year's initial enrollees were returning customers, while the rest were new buyers.

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