A recent Gallup Poll paint a problematic picture for the rollout of the individual mandate on January 1, 2014. While 85% of those with insurance are aware that Americans will have to buy insurance or pay a fine (really a tax but whatever), only 56% of those without insurance are aware. More troubling is that 43% don’t have health insurance because it is too expensive. The aptly-named Affordable Care Act has done little to assuage concerns about cost for most Americans (though it has made care affordable to those who could not previous afford it).

If the young, healthy people cannot afford to buy insurance, and choose to pay the penalty instead (it’s unclear they will even realize why their tax bill goes up–most people just pay whatever the form tells them), Obamacare will be severely impacted