Uninsured Americans uninterested in Obamacare

Americans intent on purchasing healthcare through the Affordable Care Act’s federal online exchange continue to battle through the poorly developed malfunctioning website, but most of the law’s primary target group – more than 47 million uninsured – have yet to even try.

According to a Gallup poll released Friday, only 18 percent of the nation’s medically uninsured have attempted to enroll for coverage under the new law, and only slightly more – 22 percent – said they plan to do so.

Gallup reported less than half of all uninsured Americans planning to purchase insurance – 44 percent – said they would do so through an exchange. One out of every four state they will probably pay the modest first-year fine of $95 instead of enrolling at all.

Convincing the nation’s roughly quarter population of uninsured to purchase health care is one of the critical components to ensuring the law works as intended – not just for them, but for everyone.

In order to stem the continuously rising and unsustainable costs of the health care industry and guarantee the federal funding of programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Obamacare subsidies, the law needs the participation of a majority of Americans overall.

Since the open enrollment portion of the law went into effect Oct. 1 the majority of applicants have been middle-aged to elderly, groups that increase costs with their growing need for additional care over time.

If enrollment patterns continue as they have without larger, younger, and healthier groups paying premiums while requiring less care, the balanced pool the law requires to work could tip over, spilling higher costs on those with insurance.

The Gallup results come from questions asked of uninsured Americans from Oct. 23 to Nov. 6, which make up 17 percent of the population according to Gallup.

The Census Bureau reported in September that the number of uninsured Americans fell for the second year in a row from 15.7 percent in 2011 to 15.4 percent in 2012, despite insignificant changes in real household income or the poverty rate.

Determining the long-term level of interest or participation in the law by its primary target group will be difficult. Mainstream media continues to cover the numerous technical problems plaguing the federal exchange serving 36 states, leaving the possibility that many may wait until the site is fully operational.

The cost of the fine for not enrolling will likely be cheaper for most than paying a premium for at least the first two years, coupled with the low expectation that the government will widely enforce it in the first year.

The Obama administration continues to uphold the individual mandate requiring everyone to purchase insurance by March 31, 2014 despite increasing calls from a growing number of congressional representatives on both sides of the aisle to delay.

If HealthCare.gov continues to malfunction beyond the administration’s touted end-of-November repair deadline, both delaying the mandate – which threatens to raise costs for everyone – or upholding it – while those necessary applicants are physically unable to enroll – could spell doom for universal healthcare.