Despite the warnings from Washington about consumers being issued a financial penalty should they not sign up for a health policy before the 2014 deadline, a substantial number of Americans who do not have employee benefits say that they will pay the fine rather than purchase a plan through one of the state-based exchanges, a new survey indicates.
According to polling firm Gallup, nearly three in 10 respondents – 28 percent – indicated that they don't intend to buy a health insurance policy either on their own or through one of the state marketplaces. That's down slightly from mid-November. At that time, 30 percent indicated that they would assume the penalty and pay the price for not being covered, which will be assessed when Americans file their taxes.
Intentions for buying a health policy were largely influenced by political affiliation, the survey revealed. For example, among registered Republicans, approximately 45 percent said that they would pay the $95 fee for not getting health insurance by next year, versus about 46 percent who said they would get covered before the deadline. Meanwhile, among Democrats, 80 percent said that they would have a plan in place by this time next year, with just 15 percent opting to go without.
The financial penalty is $95 or 1 percent of what an individual earns in wages annually, whichever figure is higher. That fine jumps to $325 per person in 2015 or 2 percent of their income if they fail to obtain a plan by this time. If in the third year they don't have health coverage, it's a near $700 penalty or 2.5 percent of their yearly salary.
"If the roughly one in four uninsured Americans follow through on their current intentions and choose to pay the government fine for not having insurance, the U.S. will fall short of the goal of universal coverage, although significant progress toward that goal will still have been made," the Gallup poll stated.
