MONTEREY PARK >> It’s complicated, it’s confusing and few seem to understand it.
So how do you explain Obamacare to young Americans who probably aren’t tuned into healthcare issues to begin with?
With Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber look-a likes, of course. That’s the approach the Fung Brothers took in their new “Healthcare Swag” music video. The video is based on the Cyrus song “We Can’t Stop” with original lyrics by the Fungs and appearances by a host of celebrity impersonators.
Monterey Park residents David and Andrew Fung, who have become Internet sensations with their comedy videos on YouTube, were approached by the KCAL Insurance Agency in Hacienda Heights to create the video.
“KCAL reached out to us and said they would help us out on the budget,” Andrew Fung, 24, said. “We thought, ‘OK, we can do this. It would be fun and interesting and it might actually help people.’ We always like to educate people about something in our videos. I know a lot of my friends don’t know anything about this health care thing. We tried our best to boil it down and at least get people to think about it.”
The song’s lyrics include such passion-evoking phrases as “no more pre-existing conditions,” “limited enrollment period” and “pick your coverage — choose the plan you want.” It isn’t Rodgers and Hammerstein, but the Fungs figure it will get the point across.
“It’s not like you’ll watch this once and understand it all,” Fung said. “But you can ask more questions.”
KCAL President and owner Kenny Chang said his company decided that the Fung Brothers were the right choice to get the health care message out to young Americans.
“They have so many creative ideas, and now that we have this health care reform the only way it will be a success is if we find a way to get young kids to join,” he said. “So I asked them if they were interested to educate young kids on how important it is.”
Young participants are needed not only so they can receive adequate coverage, Chang said, but also so they can pay into the insurance pool. KCAL Insurance has set up a customer service center at its Hacienda Heights office to answer questions about the Affordable Care Act.
“Right now we have about 125 people at the center,” Chang said.
Those who want to delve deeper into the available options under the Affordable Care Act can visit Coveredcalifornia.com, which serves as a marketplace where individuals and families can select coverage and see if they qualify for financial assistance to make their health coverage more affordable. The site lets consumers compare and choose the coverage plan that best fits their needs and budget.
“I had no idea about the Affordable Care Act until I became a production assistant for the ‘Healthcare Swag’ project,” said Amy Chan, a junior at Cal State L.A.
Fung said the video took some time to put together.
“From conception to completion it took about a month,” he said. “We had to come up with the lyrics, make sure all the facts were true and correct and do the production casting. A couple of people in the video are our friends, but we did regular casting for the others. It’s really been cool because we made some new friends.”
The video also includes look-a likes of Rihanna, Drake, 2 Chainz, Katy Perry, Psy and Bruno Mars.
“We’ve gotten a lot of reaction with YouTube comments from people who support Obamacare and want people to take advantage of the new marketplace,” said David Fung, 27. “The people whose comments are against Obamacare will probably have a tendency not to like the video. But we’re nonpolitical. I would like to think of this more as a little ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit. It’s edu-tainment.”
