The deadline to sign up for Obamacare is next Monday, March 31. Earlier this week, the White House announced that if you are "in line" to get Obamacare coverage, you will be given extra time to complete enrollment. But does it matter? According to a new Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, the majority of uninsured Americans are unaware of the Monday deadline to start the sign up process.
While most Americans know that the law includes fines for those who do not buy coverage, Kaiser found that just 39% of the uninsured were aware of the Monday deadline. About four-in-ten (43%) said they didn’t know the deadline (or refused to answer), 13% believed it was sometime after March and 5% were under the impression it had already passed.
Why are so many uninsured Americans unaware of the deadline? One explanation may be because one-third of the uninsured population aren't planning to sign up for Obamacare.
As the White House scrambles to get people signed up for health insurance before the March 31 deadline, many uninsured Americans say they are still planning to take their chances and remain without coverage.
A new study by Bankrate.com shows that about one third of uninsured Americans are going to remain without coverage and opt to pay the penalty.
Bankrate surveyed 3,005 people and found that 41 percent of those who were uninsured said they plan to stay uninsured because they think that health insurance is too costly.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last year that "success" for Obamacare would be seven million sign-ups or enrollees by the end of March. Currently, the White House is reporting four million Americans have "enrolled" for Obamacare, but won't define exactly what being enrolled means. Back in October when the federal exchanges launched, simply placing a health plan in the online shopping cart on Healthcare.gov (without payment) was counted as an enrollment.