70% of Uninsured Still Unaware of Subsidies

A new report from Bankrate sheds light on the enormous task involved in implementing various provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

According to Bankrate’s survey, around one-third of America’s uninsured plan to stay uninsured – with 41% citing cost as the biggest factor in their decision not to buy health insurance.

Yet, a full 70% of the uninsured respondents did not know that there were subsidies available that –depending on one’s income level – can drastically reduce the monthly premium required to get an insurance policy.

Bankrate found that it’s not just low-income folks who are refusing to jump on the ACA bandwagon: a full 54% of uninsured Americans with annual household incomes between $50,000 and $74,999 plan to remain uninsured, the survey found.

With the “open enrollment” phase of the healthcare law’s rollout almost past, the findings of this survey should prove troubling to many of the law’s proponents. As the survey results show, critical information about the ACA’s provisions has not reached a lot of the law’s intended “customers.”

Clearly, the government needs to do a better job of educating people about the various requirements, benefits and penalties contained in the ACA.