Brief Many Uninsured Adults Have Not Tried to Enroll in Medicaid or Marketplace Coverage
Jennifer M. Haley, Erik Wengle
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Using data from the second wave of the Coronavirus Tracking Survey, we assess awareness of and experiences with publicly subsidized coverage options among adults who were uninsured in September 2020. We find the following:

  • Nearly half of all uninsured adults had neither looked for information on Marketplace coverage nor tried to obtain Medicaid/CHIP.
  • Only about half of uninsured adults had heard a lot or some about the Marketplaces, and just under two-thirds had heard nothing or only a little about financial assistance for Marketplace coverage.
  • Almost half of uninsured adults familiar with Marketplace plans had not looked for information on them, most commonly because of cost concerns.
  • Just 29.3 percent of uninsured adults had tried to obtain Medicaid/CHIP coverage. Most commonly, those who had not tried to obtain it did not think they would qualify.

 

Research Areas Health and health care
Tags Health insurance Health care delivery and payment Health equity Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program  Private insurance From Safety Net to Solid Ground
Policy Centers Health Policy Center