Singer John Legend performs at the annual shareholders meeting for Walmart in Fayetteville, Arkansas …
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK (Reuters) - While technical problems slowed the launch of new "Obamacare" websites to sell health insurance on Tuesday, the law's supporters on Twitter had an easier time welcoming the "Affordable Care Cat."
Celebrities and community groups took to social media to promote President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law popularly known as Obamacare, that aims to provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans beginning next year.
Planned Parenthood Teens, part of the network of women's health clinics in southern New England, used Twitter and Tumblr to tell young adults, "The Affordable Care Cat wants you to ... Enroll Meow".
Singer John Legend and actresses Alyssa Milano and Kerry Washington were among entertainers reaching out to young adults to spark their interest in the new subsidized health plans. The administration aims to sign up at least 2.7 million young, healthy Americans in Obamacare's insurance plans in their first year to offset the costs of sicker beneficiaries.
"If you want to make sense of the whole healthcare thing, or just want to #GetCovered, check out http://www.healthcare.gov #KnowYourOptions," the rock band Pearl Jam tweeted to its more than 2 million followers on Tuesday.
