Apparently a lot of Americans do live in caves of their own design — caves that screen out some of the most trumpeted news of the decade.
The Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation teamed up to find out, post-Feb. 15 exchange insurance deadline, what people knew about obtaining coverage and the fines that will be triggered for those who didn't get coverage.
Results were drawn from a December survey of uninsured adults, ages 18 to 64, with family incomes above 100 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL).
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"We focus on uninsured adults with incomes above 100 percent of FPL because they are most likely to be subject to the penalty, in contrast to poor uninsured adults who would likely qualify for an exemption," the researchers said.
The numbers were pretty scary. Let's take a look question by question.
Awareness of the penalty for not having insurance:
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25 percent heard nothing at all about the penalty
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19 percent heard only a little
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54 percent heard a lot
Expectations about paying a penalty
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25 percent expect to pay it
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28 percent don't expect to pay it
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40 percent don't know if they'll pay it
Awareness of the open enrollment deadline
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33 percent thought the deadline was February 2015 or earlier
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30 percent had heard nothing at all about the marketplaces so knew nothing about deadlines
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29 percent knew about the marketplaces but didn't know when the deadlines were
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7 percent knew and thought the deadline was in March
"Many nonpoor adults who were uninsured as of December 2014 had heard little or nothing about the penalty, were unaware of the February 15 deadline to obtain coverage through the marketplaces, and did not know if they would be subject to a penalty for not having coverage in 2014," the researchers reported. "More than 4 in 10 uninsured adults who may be subject to the penalty have heard little or nothing about it. … Though marketplace enrollment has increased since December 2014, these results suggest that a special enrollment period could help a significant segment of the remaining uninsured who learn about the penalties when they file their 2014 tax returns."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
