Who and where are the uninsured consumers?

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Almost 14 percent of the American adult population remains uninsured since open enrollment closed three months ago, according to the Health Reform Monitoring Survey from the Urban Institute. The survey parsed out various characteristics of the remaining uninsured, which can help insurers target their outreach and education efforts as they focus on the 2015 enrollment period.

The survey found that most uninsured adults are now concentrated in states that aren't expanding Medicaid and/or are in the South. They also are more likely to be Spanish speakers, unmarried and have less than a high school education.

Almost 37 percent of the remaining uninsured adults are between 18 and 30 years old, while 41.5 percent are 31 to 49 years old. The survey also found that just 16 percent have access to employer-sponsored insurance.

And despite the massive outreach and education campaigns conducted by federal and state governments as well as insurers, only 38 percent of the remaining uninsured population is aware that premium subsidies are available.

As for the reasons that this population remains uninsured, just 20 percent said they don't want health insurance coverage or would rather pay the fine for not being covered. But 60 percent of the survey respondents said high costs or other affordability issues are preventing them from enrolling in a health plan.

The survey also found that adults who have recently enrolled in a health plan, but not necessarily through the exchanges, were most likely to use call centers, navigators, insurance agents or other direct assistance. That bodes well for insurers since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is allocating at least $60 million on navigators for the 2015 enrollment period to help guarantee they provide more direct and personal communication with consumers, FierceHealthPayer previously reported.

To learn more:
- here's the survey

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