Pollster Mallory Newall said in an interview that aired Friday on “What America’s Thinking” that the lack of PR and marketing attracting people to sign up for health care has, in part, resulted in a higher number of people without health insurance.
“Without any sort of marketing or assistance, because we’ve also done polling that finds that most people feel that health care is confusing and they need more information, without any sort of PR or marketing to help guide people through the process, of course you’re going to see a higher spike in the uninsured,” Newall, research director at Ipsos Public Affairs, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on Thursday.
The number of uninsured Americans hit 13.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to Gallup, which is the highest in more than four years.
Gallup reported this week that 10.9 percent of Americans were uninsured in 2016, which is 7 million fewer Americans without health insurance than today.
Congressional Republicans and President Trump made numerous failed attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017 but were able to get rid of the law’s individual mandate penalty as a part of the GOP’s tax law passed in December of that year.
Many experts say the elimination of the penalty, along with increased insurance premiums and other factors, could have played a role in a high number of uninsured Americans.
— Julia Manchester
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.