A new poll indicates some steep, ongoing challenges for the Obama administration as it strives for a successful Obamacare enrollment period.
The vast majority of uninsured Americans don’t know that the signup season ends Jan. 31, four in five say they haven’t been personally contacted about signing up for coverage, and nearly half say they have tried to get coverage but found it too expensive, according to a poll released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Administration officials have admitted that the third year of enrollment in health plans offered through the Obamacare marketplaces will prove the most challenging yet, as those most willing to buy coverage have already signed up for it. They have set a modest enrollment target of 10 million Americans, just 1 million more than last year. On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it is giving consumers two extra days to enroll in coverage that starts on New Year’s Day.
The Kaiser poll underscores challenges as advocates for the law seek to spread the word about it. Just 7 percent of uninsured respondents said they’re aware that the final deadline to buy a plan on healthcare.gov or the state-run insurance marketplaces is Jan. 31.
The poll found, however, that respondents were better-informed when it came to the law’s individual mandate to buy coverage. Sixty-five percent of the uninsured think they’re personally required to have coverage and 55 percent said they plan to get insurance in the next few months.
But many of the uninsured say the Obamacare plans are too expensive for them to buy, although the majority can qualify for a federal subsidy to lower the cost. Forty-six percent said they refrained from buying a plan because they determined it was too pricey. That’s the largest category by far of reasons people gave for remaining uninsured.
Support for the Affordable Care Act hasn’t improved, with 46 percent of respondents saying they have a negative view of the law compared to 40 percent who say they have a positive view. Public opinion of the law has remained virtually unchanged since the law’s early days in 2010.
The poll comes as Republicans continue combating the law in every way possible, forging a spending agreement with Democrats that delays three of the law’s taxes and extends a ban on extra funding for “risk corridor” payments due to insurers that experienced financial losses from the new enrollees. Congress is expected to pass the package before the Christmas break.
