Obama asks local leaders to help with healthcare sign-ups

President Obama is calling on state and city leaders to help meet enrollment targets in the second year of his signature healthcare law.

Obama held a conference call Tuesday with more than 200 local officials from both parties, the White House wrote in a statement Wednesday.

He also encouraged governments to spread the word through office mailings and newsletters and to “keep developing creative ways to get the people they serve the information they need,” the White House said.

Across the country, there have been more than 300 events to promote ObamaCare, the White House said. About two dozen of those events were geared toward Hispanic communities, which tend to have higher rates of people who are uninsured.

Obama’s top health official is also hitting the ground to encourage sign-ups.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell has spoken at events in Texas and Florida — the two states with the largest population of the uninsured.

The Obama administration is hoping for about 9.1 million sign-ups this year, about 3 million less than anticipated. A total of 7.1 million people are already enrolled in the government exchanges after the first year.