Obama encourages Latinos to enroll ‘amigos, familia and vecinos’ in ObamaCare

The White House on Thursday released a video featuring President Obama encouraging Hispanics to sign up for ObamaCare.

The administration is pushing to boost minority enrollment, particularly of Hispanics, in the president’s signature healthcare law.

Early technical problems with the ObamaCare website — and its Spanish-language version, CuidadoDeSalud.gov — stunted early minority enrollment in the program.

{mosads}“If you’re one of the millions of Americans, including more than 10 million Latinos, who doesn’t have health insurance, you should check out HealthCare.gov,” Obama says, arguing coverage offers “peace of mind for less than a monthly cellphone bill.”

The president also asks Hispanics to encourage their “amigos, familia and vecinos” to sign up for coverage.

One in four people eligible to buy coverage under ObamaCare is Hispanic, according to the administration. Of the 10.2 million uninsured, they say, 8.1 million would qualify for Medicaid, CHIP, or tax credits to purchase coverage.

Earlier this week, Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council; Mayra Alvarez, the associate director of the Office of Minority Health; Katherine Vargas, the White House’s director of Hispanic media; and Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas) held a conference call for reporters touting administration outreach efforts.

“It’s important that people in the community know,” Muñoz said, according to Fox News, “that the vast majority of eligible Latinos can find affordable health care.”

But Latino advocacy groups who had hoped to partner with the administration on the enrollment effort have voiced frustration with the botched rollout of the law.

The Spanish-language version of the website did not launch until December, and struggled from technical problems and bad translations. Hispanic immigrants have also reported that the ObamaCare system has struggled in verifying immigration documents, and that on average, it takes Hispanics far longer to enroll — even with the help of a health care navigator.

Many legal Hispanic immigrants have also voiced concern that personal information they submit as part of the enrollment process could be used in immigration enforcement efforts, despite administration reassurances to the contrary.