Arkansans without health insurance have until the end of the month to apply for health insurance or face financial penalties.
Under the Affordable Care Act, those without coverage will be charged nearly $700 per adult, $300 per child, or 2.5 percent of the household's income if they don’t have coverage in 2016. According to the most recent 2014 Census Bureau statistics approximately 1 in 10, or nearly 300,000 Arkansans remain uninsured.
Bruce Donaldson with Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace said there are several reasons Arkansans remain uninsured.
“Some said they cannot afford the insurance. Some just simply do not want the insurance,” Donaldson said. “They don’t have access to it. And there are a lot of folks in Arkansas that are still are not aware of what’s available to them and the kind of help they can get. They just shy away from it and don’t participate.”
A list of local navigators who can assist in the enrollment process can be found at healthcare.gov.