Confusion still surrounds ACA health insurance exchanges

(HealthDay)—Much confusion still exists surrounding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care insurance exchanges, which opened on Oct. 1, according to an article published online Sept. 30 in Medical Economics.

According to a poll from Kaiser Health Foundation, close to 70 percent of uninsured adults and more than half of insured adults reported not having enough information to make a decision about health care exchanges for themselves and their families. Media reports about politics and real benefits of the ACA health care provision have served to further confuse people; 53 percent of respondents reported not trusting any media sources regarding the ACA.

However, many still plan to sign up for insurance exchanges between October and December. In a Gallup poll, although only 37 percent were familiar with health care exchanges, 65 percent reported that they would rather get insurance than face being fined. Among the uninsured, awareness of the individual mandate increased, from 56 percent in June to 69 percent in the most recent poll. This was in part due to the efforts of the Obama administration to educate the uninsured about the ACA via the marketing campaign deployed during the summer. These efforts, together with state-funded advertising cost about $684 million, according to the Associated Press.

"Last minute polls about the opening of the health care exchanges show that the public is still confused by mixed messages about the ACA," according to the article.

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.