Uber, Doordash, Postmates And Stride Join In Health Insurance Push

Postmates, Uber, DoorDash and other companies with millions of gig workers are teaming up with portable benefits platform Stride in a nationwide drive to boost healthcare enrollment.

The companies are teaming up with a group called Get America Covered to encourage people across the country to enroll in health coverage through the U.S. Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a press release issued by the campaign.

The companies and Stride, which works with companies like Grubhub, DoorDash and Postmates to connect gig workers with health coverage, say they are making the push at a time when 27 million Americans have lost their health coverage along with their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The companies taking part in the push have each pledged to “help at least one-third of their non-benefited audiences get enrolled in health insurance this year,” according to the press release.

The campaign is timed to coincide with the start of the ACA’s annual open-enrollment period. That’s the six weeks between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15 when Americans are generally eligible to sign up for health insurance under the ACA (also known as Obamacare).

The groups are pushing a key central message that health coverage can be affordable, with rates for most ACA plans at $75 or less a month, according to Stride.

“Historically, the main reasons for the growing number of uninsured Americans is twofold: Most don’t know about the deadline for enrolling, and even fewer are aware of how affordable health insurance is right now,” said Noah Lang, CEO of Stride, in the press release. “The good news is that quality health insurance is far more affordable than most people think.”

In a bid to generate publicity for the effort, the campaign has also enlisted the help of Alex Honnold, the professional rock climber and subject of the award-winning film “Free Solo,” and professional long-distance runner and podcast host Rich Roll.

“It’s crazy that so many Americans have been left without insurance in the midst of a pandemic,” said Honnold. “But quality insurance through the Affordable Care Act is more attainable than most people know. I’m pleased to be partnering with Stride Health and Get America Covered to help more Americans get covered.”

(This article has been updated.)