When the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate kicks in on Jan. 1, 2014, a wide majority of uninsured Americans say they will purchase health insurance rather than pay the fine, according to findings released Monday by Gallup.
Sixty-five percent said they are more likely to get health insurance, while a quarter of uninsured Americans said they will pay the fine and 11 percent said they have no opinion.
A little less than half of uninsured Americans – 48 percent — said they will purchase health insurance through one of the state or federal exchanges slated to open on Oct. 1 compared with 36 percent who said they will not.
The House passed a stopgap spending measure on Sunday that aims to delay implementation of the health care law for one year.
Efforts by Republicans to link a continuing resolution to a provision that defunds or delays the Affordable Care Act have greatly raised the risk of a government shutdown, a scenario opposed by much of the public. A poll last week showed that a majority of Americans oppose shutting down the government in order to defund the health care law.
