Obama-scare? New Web Game Tries to Get Young People to Sign Up for ACA

By Erin Dooley March 20, 2014

(Courtesy GamePlan4Me.com)

Gameplan4me, a new Obama-endorsed healthcare.gov feeder site, aims to inject a certain fear factor into the White House's push to attract millennials to Obamacare.

Simply input your gender and age, spin a virtual wheel and wait for the ticker to pinpoint the illness that could eventually kill you - from cancer to heart disease to underage drinking. The lucky ones could end up with something called "oral health" problems.

The "game" aims to shed light on "what happens when you take a chance without health care," according to the site.

When it spits out your fate, it also generates tweetable statistics about the rate of incidence in your demographic.

For example, one random spin for an 18- to 34-year-old female generated an STD diagnosis, along with this suggested tweet: "1 in 2 sexually active persons will contact an STD/STI by age 25. http://www.gameplan4me.com #gameplan4me."

Another game on the site allows users to create a basic avatar with a career, favorite mode of transportation and favorite food - then answer questions about the health risks related to those activities.

Scared yet? Luckily, the site - which is primarily a portal for professional athletes from Super Bowl champion Keyshawn Johnson to Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross to plug health insurance - links to healthcare.gov and state exchanges.

Endorsed by the White House, Gameplan4me is just the latest in a string of marketing efforts that use star power to attract millennials to Obamacare. And it's just part of the push to attract sports fans.

Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services released a report on the financial cost of sports-related injuries. And even HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is taking advantage of the NCAA March Madness tournament to tout the Affordable Care Act.