More than a third of Americans who declined to sign up for a healthcare plan through the Obamacare exchanges said the premiums were too expensive, according to a new report.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation released the
results of a study Tuesday that showed 36 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 64 said they tried to get coverage but it was too much money for them.
In another section of the study, the people surveyed were asked for the main reason why they did not have health insurance. Thirty-nine percent said it was too pricy. There was also an area for respondents to write in a reason:
"What's out there now is just unaffordable."
"Because I think food on the table is more important."
"Being a single mom every penny I have goes into my household and I have nothing extra."
Twenty-two percent of people said they don't have health insurance because of job-related reasons. Among the reasons here included: "I only work two and half hours a day for five days a week and I can't afford it."
This goes against one of the biggest selling points the Obama administration made for Obamacare: It would make health insurance affordable for Americans. Even Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, who has supported the Affordable Care Act from its inception, is paying more than he was under his previous health plan.
"Under Obamacare, my insurance costs me about $4,500 more than it did before,"
Reid said in December. "Yes, because it is age-related and it wasn't like that before.”
In the Kaiser report, 12 percent of people surveyed who did not purchase a healthcare plan said they tried to get coverage through Obamacare but could not do so before the April 15 deadline, which was extended from March 31.
Seven percent said they would simply rather pay the fine for not having coverage, which for adults is the higher of these two figures: $95 or 1 percent of their household income from 2014.
The numbers show that 46 percent of the American public has an unfavorable view of the Affordable Care Act, with 38 percent holding a favorable view. Fifty-six percent of Republicans have a "very unfavorable" opinion of the law, while 36 percent of Democrats sport a "very favorable" view of it.
Overall, 58 percent of those surveyed would like Congress to improve the law. Thirty-five percent want it repealed.
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