Talking up the health law to educate consumers

News outlets report that a variety of health law advocates -- ranging from federal, state and local officials to retirees and grassroots volunteers -- are hitting the streets and knocking on doors to inform people about the law and counter what some say is "misinformation."

The Associated Press: Volunteers Get Out Word On 'Obamacare'
With just 50 days until Floridians are able to go online and shop for private health insurance under a new federal law, hundreds of volunteers are fanning out across the state to inform people about the law and the coverage opportunities available under it. Volunteers, who are mobilizing grassroots efforts similar to election campaigns, say they're finding that people are hungry to hear more (Kennedy, 8/13).

Bloomberg: Retirees In Enemy Territory Go Door-To-Door On Obamacare
Republican governors seeking to make their states enemy territory for Obamacare are facing a counteroffensive. Among the vanguard: two 74-year-old retirees walking the streets of working-class New Jersey. Margot Lee and Claude Cesard recently went door-to-door to pitch the health law's benefits. They're among thousands of supporters mobilized by the nonprofit group Enroll America to encourage the uninsured to sign up for the Affordable Care Act's new health plans, one household at a time (Nussbaum, 8/14).

The Associated Press: HHS Chief, Fulton Officials Tout Health Care Law
Local and federal officials say they're working together to help Atlanta-area residents use new insurance exchanges under the 2010 federal health care overhaul, without the help of Georgia Republicans who run state government. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke Tuesday with Fulton County commissioners and medical providers about how to market new exchanges where consumers can shop for individual policies from private insurance firms beginning Oct. 1 (Barrow, 8/13).

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Consumers In The Dark As Health Insurance Exchange Nears
You won't find Dwight Fine's name on the Missouri state payroll. But the retired hospital association executive has been working for state government the last three years. In health care circles, he's known as the state's Affordable Care Act coordinator. The Missouri Foundation for Health, a St. Louis-based nonprofit group, pays Fine's salary and "loans" him to the state. He reports to the social services director (Young, 8/14).

Bloomberg: Health Law Success Hinges On Combatting 'Misinformation'
The U.S. government needs to offset "misinformation" about the health-care law being circulated in states led by Republican governors, according to the Obama administration official responsible for implementation (Wayne, 8/13).