Surveys find few uninsured enrolling through marketplaces

Two surveys released this week both found that the new health insurance marketplaces is struggling to enroll the uninsured (Source: “New health insurance marketplaces signing up few uninsured Americans, two surveys find,” Washington Post, March 6, 2014)

According to a survey conducted by health consulting firm McKinsey, while enrollment among the previously uninsured continues to increase, just one in 10 uninsured people who qualify for private plans through the new marketplaces have enrolled as of last month.

The second survey, conducted by the Urban Institute and based on slightly older data from December,  shows that awareness of the new marketplaces is fairly widespread but that those with a lower income and those who are uninsured are less likely to know about this avenue to health coverage than other people. That survey found that about half of uninsured adults have looked for information on the exchanges or planned to look.

“If there is one point to the law, it is to lower the number of uninsured,” said Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Ultimately, that has to happen for the law to be judged a success.”