Survey: Most who enrolled in marketplaces were previously uninsured

According to a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 57 percent of those who obtained insurance through ACA health insurance exchanges were uninsured just prior to buying coverage; most had been uninsured for at least two years, and nearly half for at least five years (Source: “Health Exchange Enrollees Had Mostly Been Uninsured,” New York Times, June 19, 2014).

That new KFF figure is much higher than the percentage reported by previous studies from RAND Corp. and McKinsey & Co.

Kaiser's survey found 34 percent of surveyed enrollees said they benefited from the ACA, while 29 percent said they were adversely affected. Overall, 55 percent of respondents to the Kaiser survey rated their coverage as an excellent or good value, while 39 percent said it was a fair or poor value. But four in 10 said it was difficult for them to afford their share of the premiums. And six in 10 said they were worried that insurers would raise premiums so much that they could not afford insurance in the future.