Despite a in the two weeks before the April 15 deadline to enroll for insurance under the health law, many more Californians have not signed up.
And they鈥檙e unlikely to. Many people are uninterested in health insurance, confused or skeptical. Here are some examples:
Scott Belsha from Long Beach, Calif., works as a drummer and carpenter. The 34-year-old has never had health insurance, not even as a child (Photo by Stephanie O鈥橬eill/SCPR).
鈥� Scott Belsha, from Long Beach, falls in the 听鈥渟keptical鈥� category. 鈥淚鈥檝e been consumed with living my life, and I鈥檓 fortunate to be healthy,鈥� he says. He works as a musician and carpenter, and he鈥檚 never had health insurance 鈥� not even as a kid. His parents, who own a small business, always paid cash for medical care 鈥� most of which they were able to get from a doctor friend. He adds: 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 ever been to the hospital or broken a bone. But I鈥檓 34, and I should probably start thinking about it.鈥�
鈥� Steven Petersen, 40, of Los Angeles said he looked into his options, but couldn鈥檛 afford $240 a month, the lowest premium he could find. 鈥淢y mom鈥檚 been calling every day saying, 鈥榊ou need to get health insurance,鈥欌�� said Petersen, who manages a West Hollywood health store. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 a pretty healthy guy, so I really don鈥檛 see the point of it because it鈥檚 so expensive.鈥� He鈥檇 prefer a cheap catastrophic coverage plan, but those are only offered to consumers under 30 years old or people with hardship exemptions.
鈥� Lorenzo Hebert, 47, of Los Angeles works at a Pasadena thrift store that doesn鈥檛 provide job-based health insurance to part-timers. He, too, says he鈥檚 shied away from buying insurance, mostly because he just hasn鈥檛 had time to figure out exactly what he鈥檚 supposed to do. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen it on TV, but never had the time I could do it,鈥� Hebert says.
Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, said he wasn鈥檛 expecting every uninsured person to sign up during this first year. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
鈥淲e鈥檙e really early on,鈥� Levitt said. 鈥淭he expectations are that enrollment will ramp up both in Medi-Cal and Covered California over a period of years.鈥�
Under the health law, most people earning less than about $16,000 a year are eligible for low- or no-cost health insurance through
Los Angeles resident Steven Petersen, 40, manages a West Hollywood health food store (Photo by Stephanie O鈥橬eill/SCPR).
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, even years from now, the number of uninsured will remain significant: about 30 million nationwide. Some portion will be those who live in states that have not opted to expand their Medicaid program to adults without dependent children; others will be immigrants who don鈥檛 qualify for coverage under the law. 鈥淏ut the biggest category are people who simply will choose either not to enroll in Medicaid or not to buy private insurance,鈥� Levitt says.
-Beth Engel, in Ventura County, 听knows the tax penalty for those who don鈥檛 have insurance would be much cheaper than paying for premiums. The 32-year-old mother of a nearly 3-year-old daughter, describes herself as among the early supporters of the ACA. 鈥淚 was very hopeful鈥� when the Affordable Care Act passed, she said. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥榃ow! I can have a job that I love that doesn鈥檛鈥� necessarily have insurance but I get insurance affordably.鈥欌�� Engel, works part time as a hotel clerk and qualifies for tax subsidies that reduce premiums for her and her toddler to about $200 a month.
But she chose not to buy insurance for herself this year. 鈥淚 found that the premiums were still very high, and I just couldn鈥檛 afford them,鈥� says Engel.
Even though now she鈥檚 armed with the knowledge she can take the subsidy upfront in the form of a reduced insurance premium each month, she says she鈥檚 hesitant without thoroughly understanding the plans offered through the state-run marketplace, 听
鈥淢aybe I鈥檓 reading these incorrectly,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut it just didn鈥檛 make sense, and I thought I鈥檓 not going to put money I don鈥檛 really have to spend into a program that I don鈥檛 really understand.鈥澨�
This story is part of a collaboration which includes , and Kaiser Health News.