海角大神

鈥橳is the season to sign up for Obamacare, so it鈥檚 time once again for off-kilter ads aimed at convincing young people that they need to pay attention to this health-care thing.

Thankfully, 鈥淧ajama Boy鈥� has not yet reappeared. Remember him? He was the grown man wearing what looked like a plaid flannel onesie and cradling a cup of cocoa in ad that was tweeted out last year by a political nonprofit associated with the Obama administration.

Pajama Boy went viral, or more specifically, people poking fun at Pajama Boy went viral. But that might have been the point, because it got attention for the fact that the Millennial generation needs health insurance, too.

In Colorado, the 鈥済ot insurance?鈥� campaign looks like it鈥檚 ongoing. Those ads play off the popular 鈥淕ot Milk?鈥� tag line and feature such feats of youth as keg stands and bike crashes.

鈥淭he accident was gnarly, but my ER bills weren鈥檛 because I have health insurance,鈥� says 鈥淩ob, Road Rash Warrior鈥� in one.

Then there鈥檚 the newest entry in the weird-ad sweepstakes, from Get Covered Illinois. Luck is the campaign鈥檚 theme. Its logo is a pair of crossed fingers, according to a piece on the effort in the Chicago Business Journal.

It starts with a group of happy 20-somethings strolling down a city street on a sunny fall day, without a care in the world apparently.

鈥淣ow there鈥檚 a health plan for people who can鈥檛 stand paperwork or monthly premiums. A plan with no real benefits. Introducing the 鈥楲uck鈥� health plan,鈥� intones a narrator.

Cut to a happy Millennial on a swing, wearing an eye patch.

鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing to it,鈥� the narrator says.

鈥淣o doctors. No prescriptions. No real health care of any kind. You don鈥檛 need it,鈥� he continues.

And so forth. You get the idea: They鈥檙e mocking the way young people tend to think they鈥檙e invincible, so they don鈥檛 need health insurance. That鈥檚 why health-care economists sometimes call this demographic the 鈥測oung invincibles.鈥�

鈥淵ou鈥檒l be OK. Probably,鈥� goes the ad, after shots of happy flannel-wearing youngsters with neck braces, splints, and other various signs of injury.

With lots of plaid flannel, an old Land Rover, and midcentury modern architecture, you know it鈥檚 aimed at Millennials. The so-called lumbersexual look has been a thing for a while now, didn鈥檛 you know?

The Obamacare focus on trying to get young people to sign up isn鈥檛 just due to concern for their possible soccer injuries. It鈥檚 also because the system needs premiums from younger, healthier people to help cover the costs for older, less healthy individuals.

And last year鈥檚 efforts worked, kind of. According to Gallup data, the uninsured rate among 18-to-25-year-olds fell 4.5 percent last year, to 19 percent. It fell 3.7 percent among 26-to-34-year-olds.

That鈥檚 in line with the gains shown in reducing the nation鈥檚 overall uninsured rate under the Affordable Care Act.

But there are still lots of plaid-wearing bros and gals out there counting on luck, if you will, to see them through. While the uninsured rate for 18-to-25-year-olds is 19 percent, the overall national adult uninsured rate is 13 percent.

And the uninsured rate for 26-to-34-year-olds is the highest for any age group: 24.5 percent.