--- title: Most Uninsured Americans Have No Clue About Obamacare Signup Deadline description: According to a new Kaiser poll, most uninsured Americans do not know when the Obamacare enrollment deadline is, nor what the fine costs. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Insurance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2016-01-29T18:49:52.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T09:51:12.000Z' section: Insurance tags: - health insurance - Insurance - Obamacare word_count: 410 canonical: https://money.com/obamacare-deadline-fine/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![dartboard with January 31 calendar page in middle, dart boards hitting wall and missing target](https://img.money.com/2016/01/160129_ff_missobamadeadline.jpg?crop=0px%2C84px%2C2100px%2C1181px&quality=85) First off, if you're among the clueless, we've got answers! The [deadline for Obamacare enrollment](https://money.com/obamacare-deadline-2016/) is Jan. 31, 2016. That's this Sunday. If you don't sign up for health insurance by then, you may face a fine, and/or you might not be able to enroll in a health insurance plan for all of 2016. As for the size of the fine for going without insurance, an uninsured individual will be on the hook for $695 or 2.5% of household income come tax time, whichever is greater. Because there are additional taxes if children are uninsured, a previous study estimates that the average cost for an uninsured household will be $969 in 2016. This information will come as a surprise to many uninsured Americans, however. According to a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll released this week, based on surveys conducted earlier in January, only 15% of the uninsured knew that the 2016 signup deadline is the last day of this month. Nearly half of the uninsured in the survey (47%) were aware that they would face a fine for not enrolling, but only 1% could correctly name the fine amounts for 2016 ($695 or 2.5% of income). Another 47% of the uninsured said they didn't think they would take a financial hit because of their failure to sign up for health insurance. This may or may not be true. "Some uninsured may in fact be exempt from the fine because of hardship exemptions available under the law," the Kaiser report states. Then again, if your income is so low that you'd be exempt from the fine, then you're all but guaranteed to qualify for a discount on health insurance premiums, or perhaps even get coverage for free. **Read next: [Everything You Need to Know About Obamacare Open Enrollment 2016](https://money.com/obamacare-open-enrollment-2016/)** So far, 83% of those who have enrolled for coverage at the federal insurance marketplace [Healthcare.gov](https://www.healthcare.gov/) have qualified for some kind of discount, with the average subsidized premium costing [$113 per month](https://money.com/obamacare-deadline-2016/) as a result. Apparently, though, the problem is that many uninsured remain "disengaged" in the enrollment process, according to Kaiser. Most have not bothered to find out if they're eligible for discounts. "Over 7 in 10 say they have not tried to figure out if they qualify for Medicaid (72 percent) or for financial assistance to purchase health insurance (79 percent) in the past 6 months," the Kaiser report states. 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