Voters Unaware of Changes to ACA Open Enrollment, Think Cuts Will Lead to More Uninsured   

From: Jim Williams, Public Policy Polling®

To: Interested Parties

Subject: Voters Unaware of Changes to ACA Open Enrollment, Think Cuts Will Lead to More Uninsured

Date: December 14, 2017

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that many voters are unaware of the shortened open enrollment time period under the Affordable Care Act – 57% of voters are either not sure when the deadline is, or they think it’s later than it actually is. This is also true for 50% of voters who buy their own health insurance. Further, when informed of the Trump Administration’s decision to cut the open enrollment period in half from 90 days to 45 days, 61% of voters believe that this will results in less people having health care coverage, including 49% of those who buy their own insurance.

Key findings from the survey include:

• Voters are largely in the dark about when the open enrollment period ends. Just 43% of them think it ends on December 15^th, while 57% aren’t sure or say they think it’s later in the future than it actually is. Crucially, 50% of voters who buy their own insurance either aren’t sure of the closing date or get the date wrong.
• The Trump Administration’s moves to curb advertising to raise awareness of open enrollment seem to be having an effect – just 36% of voters say they’ve seen any advertising about HealthCare.gov this year, 55% say they have not. Just 29% say they’ve heard “a lot” about the open enrollment period for signing up for healthcare in 2018; over 40% say they’ve heard “just a little” or “not much at all.” Only 41% of voters who buy their own insurance say they’ve heard “a lot” about open enrollment this year.
• 61% of voters say they think that the Trump administration cutting the open enrollment period in half so that this year it only lasts 45 days compared to previous Open Enrollment periods that lasted 90 days will have the result of less people having health care coverage, including 49% of those who buy their own insurance.PPP surveyed 585 registered voters nationally from December 12-13, 2017. The margin of error is +/- 4.1%. This poll was conducted using automated telephone interviews for Protect Our Care.

The full results of the national survey can be found here.