Most Uninsured Unaware of Next ACA Open Enrollment Period
About nine of 10 uninsured individuals who responded to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey said they did not know that the Affordable Care Act's next open enrollment period begins in November, the New York Times' "The Upshot" reports (Sanger-Katz, "The Upshot," New York Times, 10/21).
The finding comes from the most recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, for which researchers surveyed 1,503 U.S. adults between Oct. 8 and Oct. 14 (KFF poll, 10/21).
According to Mollyann Brodie, KFF's executive director for public opinion and survey research, the results are similar to what other surveys showed before the first open enrollment period. However, she said it was surprising so few people were aware this time around, given recent news coverage of the ACA. She said, "You'd think there's just been so much attention and effort put out there" that more people would know about it.
The survey also found that:
- Two-thirds of uninsured respondents said they know "only a little" or "nothing at all" about the ACA's insurance exchanges; and
- More than half said they did know that they might qualify for financial assistance to purchase exchange coverage.
According to "The Upshot," spreading awareness among uninsured U.S. residents will be difficult compared with last fall, as the first uninsured residents to enroll in coverage likely were more motivated. The next enrollment period begins Nov. 15 and ends Feb. 15, 2015.
Anne Filipic, president of Enroll America, said, "Those who remain uninsured are likely fundamentally harder to reach than those who enrolled in the first enrollment period" ("The Upshot," New York Times, 10/21).
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