The health care exchanges are increasingly becoming just a regular thing for Americans. After all the political angst and Republican obsession with repeal, after the huge mess created by a horribly botched rollout, they are finally now running smoothly and are on the way to becoming simply where to go to get health insurance. That's if
Gallup is to be believed. But there's still work to be done in creating awareness.
PRINCETON, NJ -- Fifty-six percent of uninsured Americans who plan to get health insurance say they will do so through a government health insurance exchange. That figure has steadily increased since Gallup began tracking uninsured Americans' intentions in October.
One possible factor in the growing popularity of exchange-based plans versus other sources is improvements made to the federal exchange website to correct a wide array of technical issues that plagued the site. Another factor may be that previously uninsured Americans who now have health insurance for 2014 had other options, such as insurance through an employer or signing up on a spouse's or parent's plan. Those options may not be as available to those who remain uninsured.
Last week, Gallup reported fewer uninsured people in their survey—16 percent in January, down from 17.3 percent in December—and that trend continued in this week's polling. There's still a stunning lack of awareness about the law—72 percent of the uninsured aren't aware that they could be penalized for not signing up, but there's progress there, too. Last month it was 80 percent. This demonstrates that the administration still needs to be working hard to get the word out