Some uninsured Americans don’t believe they can afford insurance, although they know about Obamacare’s benefits.
Making healthcare more affordable is a hallmark of Obamacare, but a recent survey found that six in 10 uninsured adults cited the high costs of coverage as a reason they still don’t have coverage.
The survey from the left-leaning think tank Urban Institute and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that half of uninsured adults reported difficulty paying for housing or food in the past year.
The findings come nearly a week after the Obama administration announced that the uninsured rate fell to just under 10 percent of the U.S. population, with 29 million people still without insurance.
The Urban Institute cited an earlier survey from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that found 58 percent of uninsured adults had less than $100 in savings. Enrolling in healthcare insurance was the fourth biggest priority, behind paying off debts, saving money and paying for necessary repairs when their financial situation improves.
Americans as a whole spent about one-third of their income on housing, 15 percent on food and about 15-20 percent on transportation in 2014, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Healthcare spending rose to be about 11 percent of consumer spending in 2014 compared with 2013, the bureau said. That amounts to about $3,919 a year for the average U.S. consumer.
The problem isn’t just that the uninsured don’t know about the expansion of Medicaid or the Obamacare exchanges. More than a quarter of potentially eligible uninsured adults were aware of Obamacare subsidies and even looked for healthcare plans in the marketplace, Urban said.
“These uninsured adults appear to be informed and engaged yet still cite financial reasons for being uninsured,” according to a report on the survey, which interviewed about 7,500 Americans.
The findings may reveal that current marketplace subsidies for low and moderate-income individuals may not be enough, the Urban Institute concluded.
A majority of the uninsured adults say they value health insurance, but it is not a top priority.
However, that could change next year, when the penalty for not having insurance increases, said Kathy Hempstead, who directs the foundation’s work on health insurance coverage.
This year, the penalty was $95 per person or 1 percent of household income, whichever amount was highest. But it goes up to $325 per person or 2 percent of household income next year.
Hempstead said the recent survey found people are weighing the benefits of getting health insurance versus the cost of the penalty. This year some people decided to stay out since the penalty was low.
“As the penalty increases, people will recalculate,” she told the Washington Examiner.
She noted that people’s priorities play a part in choosing to get covered, citing the earlier Robert Wood Johnson survey on the uninsured.
“We found that a lot of people reported having very little savings or money left over after paying bills and had priorities like fixing their car in front of getting health insurance,” she said. “There are many other people with the same income that did get insurance.”
