A third of Americans currently uninsured still have no intention of
buying health coverage even though they are required to do so by the
Affordable Care Act, according to
Bankrate's latest Health Insurance Pulse survey.
Thirty-four percent contacted by telephone said they still have no
intention of buying insurance. Most, 41 percent, cited cost as their
reason, while 17 percent said they oppose Obamacare and 13 percent said
they are healthy and don't need insurance.
Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they do plan to purchase health coverage.
"We did all this discombobulating for nothing, because the uninsured are not signing up,"
Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto said on Monday.
"It's hard to generalize, but for some of these folks, it's a case of,
'I'm in pretty good health, I don't think about these things, I know I
can't afford it now,'" Michael Morrisey, professor of health economics
at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health told
Bankrate. "I think it's just rolling past them, and they're not giving
it a whole lot of attention."
The debate swirled even as the administration announced that more than 5
million had now enrolled in private health insurance under Obamacare
since open enrollment began on Oct. 1.
The tally is an increase of at least 800,000 enrollees since March 1,
with volume rising as the six-month enrollment period approaches its
deadline on March 31. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office
estimates that enrollment could total 6 million, but private estimates
have suggested a lower turnout.
In the Bankrate survey, only 30 percent were aware of tax credits
designed to offset costs, but those making less than $30,000 a year —
who are more likely to benefit from them — were in the group most
likely to know about the credits.
It is mostly men who won't buy insurance over opposition to Obamacare.
Twenty-two percent of men cited that as the reason as opposed to 8
percent of women.
Most opponents of the Affordable Care Act are Republican, so it's not
surprising that half of uninsured Republicans cited opposition to
Obamacare as their reason to remain uninsured. Only 5 percent of those
who identify as Democrats cited opposition to the ACA as their reason.
And it is mostly the young who say they won't buy insurance because they
are healthy. Thirty-one percent of respondents age 18-29 cited that
reason. Only 6 percent of those 30-49 said they were healthy enough to
remain uninsured.
Deborah Chollet, a health insurance research leader at Mathematica
Policy Research in Washington, D.C., told Bankrate that the multimedia
advertising campaigns targeting the "young invincibles" may have missed
another target group: low-income, young families.
"They're probably not spending a lot of time watching television, they
never read a newspaper, and if they listen to radio, it's probably music
in the car," she said. "In communities of color, people might hear
about [Obamacare] in church, but for people who are not attached to a
church, I don't know how they get the information."
Sabrina Corlette, research professor at Georgetown University's Health
Policy Institute, told Bankrate that the Obama administration may have
focused too much on positive aspects of the law, such as tax subsidies,
rather than the penalties imposed for not buying insurance.
"They found in Massachusetts, with 'RomneyCare,' that the individual
mandate penalty absolutely motivated a lot of people to purchase
insurance," Corlette said. "The Obama administration understandably
tried to emphasize the positive, but people need to understand that the
mandate is not insignificant – they could be hit with a big tax bill if
they don't buy coverage."
Also, only 48 percent of the uninsured were aware they have only until
March 31 to sign up. After that, they have to wait for next year's open
enrollment, which begins November 15. The only exceptions are life
changes such as a divorce or lost job.
Dr. Jane Hughes, an ophthalmologist, told Fox News that the Department
of Health and Human Services and Medicare and Medicaid Services say they
aren't keeping track of who had insurance and who didn't when they are
signing up.
"It's absolutely not been worth the hassle, and I know why we did all of
this: This was a socio-political agenda to take over one-sixth of the
private sector economy using my profession — medicine — to do it."
Six million have been bumped off insurance plans because of Obamacare.
4.2 million have signed up. "If we had a big neon sign over
Healthcare.gov it would be minus-1.8 million now enrolled. That's hardly
a success story."
Cavuto decided to have fun with what he admitted was a serious subject,
creating a March Madness-type bracket to determine the "Not-So-Sweet-16"
reasons people aren't signing up.
"Cost" beat out all other takers including "Can't keep your plan," and "Limits on coverage."
