Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Obamacare enrollment starts in 25 days. Nine in 10 uninsured people don’t know.

Mandel Ngan / Getty News Images

Here’s a big challenge for Obamacare: About three-quarters of uninsured American have no idea that the law’s sign-up period is just around the corner.

The Kaiser Family Foundation published a new survey Tuesday showing that 76 percent of uninsured adults didn’t know when the health care law’s open enrollment period started. 11 percent were able to correctly identify open enrollment as starting in November while the rest guessed other dates.

uninsured unaware

(Kaiser Family Foundation)

And when Kaiser further surveyed uninsured Americans on the health care law, they found relatively low levels of awareness about the different parts of Obamacare — like about the financial assistance that exists to buy coverage or about the online marketplaces for shopping.

obamacare awareness

(Kaiser Family Foundation)

Open enrollment starts in 25 days, on November 15. And the Kaiser data suggests that, just like last year, there is a big gap in public awareness of how the law works — or when people can shop.

More in Health Care

Politics
Mifepristone survives another Supreme Court scare — for nowMifepristone survives another Supreme Court scare — for now
Politics

Only Thomas and Alito publicly dissented.

By Ian Millhiser
Health
Hantavirus will test if the world learned anything from CovidHantavirus will test if the world learned anything from Covid
Health

The hantavirus outbreak is still small. But it’s a huge test for a battered public health sector.

By Dylan Scott
Health
How worried should I be about hantavirus?How worried should I be about hantavirus?
Health

5 questions about the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak, answered.

By Dylan Scott
Good Medicine
Do health influencers actually know what they’re talking about?Do health influencers actually know what they’re talking about?
Good Medicine

Most health influencers don’t have real credentials — but they are more influential than ever.

By Dylan Scott
Health
A major new study found AI outperformed doctors in ER diagnosis — but there’s a catchA major new study found AI outperformed doctors in ER diagnosis — but there’s a catch
Health

An Open AI model posted impressive results in emergency care. But we still need human doctors.

By Dylan Scott
Health
Please don’t inject yourself with bootleg peptidesPlease don’t inject yourself with bootleg peptides
Health

Why Americans have gone wild self-experimenting with the hottest thing in wellness: Peptides.

By Dylan Scott