Cost the main reason people remain uninsured

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Despite the last-minute push to enroll 8 million people in health insurance exchange plans, the Affordable Care Act's popularity remains exactly where it was last month, according to a poll released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Of the almost 1,500 adults surveyed, 46 percent hold an unfavorable view of the healthcare reform law, while 38 percent support it. When asked why they still lack coverage, 36 percent claim they could not find an affordable plan--the main reason cited for remaining uninsured.

"What's out there now is just unaffordable," one respondent said, according to the study. "Being a single mom, every penny I have goes into my house and I have nothing extra," another commented.

Price continued to drive the buying decisions of exchange customers shopping for insurance in the individual marketplace. Because many Americans still do not understand how health insurance works, they tend to pick the cheapest plans, FierceHealthPayer previously reported.

A silver plan costs an average of $808 a month for a household of two 40 year olds with two children that earns above 400 percent of poverty, reports the Huffington Post. If eligible for a tax credit, the same family would receive a $63 subsidy.

For the 24 states that chose to not expand Medicaid, many low-income individuals remain without coverage--those earning up to 133 percent of poverty, or $15,282 for a single person, were supposed to have access to Medicaid, notes Huff Post.

Despite cost concerns with Affordable Care Act plans, nearly 58 percent of survey respondents hope their Congressional representative works to improve the reform law, while only 35 percent want the law repealed and replaced.

For more:
- here's the Kaiser Family Foundation poll
- read the Huffington Post article

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