10 reasons people didn’t sign up for Obamacare
By Brianna Ehley9 hours ago
We know that 8 million people signed up for health insurance under the new Obamacare exchanges. But what about the millions of uninsured Americans who opted to forge ahead without coverage?
A new survey of uninsured people released by Enroll America, a nonprofit group formed to help the administration sign people up for Obamacare, gives us a better idea of why people are choosing to remain uninsured.
According to the survey, the majority of uninsured people cited cost as their number one reason for passing on coverage through the new exchanges. That’s bad news for the administration, since the primary goal of the president’s signature health care law was to expand coverage to millions more Americans.
Even worse, most of these people had no idea that government subsidies were available to make health insurance more affordable. Just 26 percent said they knew about the subsidies.
Other reasons people cited for not enrolling in Obamacare include issues with the enrollment process, like website problems. About 35 percent of uninsured people said they spent time trying to enroll but never made it all the way through for various reasons. Lack of awareness about the program in general also kept Americans from enrolling.
Here are the top reasons people opted out of Obamacare, according to the survey:
- 39 percent said the costs aren’t worth it
- 27 percent cited website problems
- 26 percent said “it was too confusing”
- 21 percent said they “couldn’t figure out plans’ costs”
- 19 percent said they “couldn’t get their questions answered”
- 17 percent said they “weren’t sure they were eligible”
- 13 percent said they “don’t want Obamacare”
- 8 percent said they “thought they had more time to apply”
- 8 percent said they “didn’t want to give out personal information”
- 7 percent said they “are waiting for insurance through their job”
Other reasons people gave for not signing up included concern over immigration problems and the inability to get assistance in their language while trying to enroll.
“Today’s survey shows that education and outreach efforts will be “critically important” to get people to enroll next year,” Anne Filipic, Enroll America’s president, said in a statement. “When people know the insurance options and financial assistance that are available to them, they choose to enroll in coverage.”
Of the 853 uninsured people surveyed, 84 percent said they were likely to enroll in the exchanges next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting. Your comments are needed for helping to improve the discussion.