Poll: Large Number Willing to Pay IRS Fine, Not Get Obamacare

A new Gallup poll finds that 35 percent of uninsured Americans would rather pay the IRS fine for not having insurance than sign up for Obamacare.

The new poll also found that 55 percent of the uninsured said they want to get healthcare insurance.

The poll of 975 uninsured Americans found that 70 percent were aware that Obamacare (or the Affordable Care Act) required every American to get insurance. But, as Gallup notes, “that leaves nearly 30% who were not aware they must have insurance or pay a fine at the time that Gallup interviewers asked them about it.”

This means that four years after the passage of Obamacare, millions of Americans may still be unaware that the law requires them to get insurance or face fines imposed by the IRS.

Beginning Saturday, Obamacare will begin its next round of open enrollment. The Obama administration claims 7.1 million signed up last year, but this year’s signup period is shorter.

But already the administration has downgraded the number of enrollees expected to be signed up for Obamacare. On November 10, the Department of Health and Human Services estimated that nine million would be enrolled by 2015, but that is 4 million less than what they said only a month ago.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com