Changing Awareness of the Health Insurance Marketplace

Abstract

The Health Insurance Marketplace was designed to increase the affordability of health insurance. The success of the marketplace depends on people's awareness and use of it. In a statewide mail survey of West Virginians, we found that respondents' awareness of the West Virginia Health Insurance Marketplace increased from 2013 to 2014. However, large percentages of respondents continued to be unaware of the availability of federal subsidies and were unsure of their personal eligibility for these subsidies. It is essential that awareness and enrollment efforts continue and that they be expanded in novel ways to continue growth in access to health insurance through the marketplace.

Health reform under the patient protection and Affordable Care Act: characteristics of exchange-based health insurance enrollees

“…This creates the concern that older smokers may have post-subsidy premiums which may not be affordable (Liber, Drope, Graetz, Waters, & Kaplan, 2015). People who are illiterate or not numerate may have less comprehension concerning insurance choices and may choose an inappropriate plan or a plan in which they will pay more than a comparable plan from another insurer (Barnes, Hanoch, & Rice, 2015); limited literacy and numeracy may make individuals unaware of federal subsidies, eligibilities and legal requirements for healthcare (Bias, Agarwal, & Fitzgerald, 2015).…”

An Analysis of Community-Based Health Workforce Training Efficacy: Evidence From the Affordable Care Act Insurance Navigators in Illinois

“…The ACA's two key strategies to reduce the number of uninsured in the United States-expanding Medicaid and creating an online Marketplace-were both designed with an eye toward easing the enrollment and purchasing process of procuring health insurance. However, evidence suggests that low-income uninsured individuals remained largely unaware of potentially beneficial provisions of the ACA, even though these new provisions were promoted via traditional marketing channels including radio and television advertisements (Bias, Agarwal, & Fitzgerald, 2015;Long & Goin, 2014). To augment the marketing efforts, the ACA required that every state Marketplace also establish a navigator program at the 2014 insurance expansion launch.…”