Accessing Health Care as a Young Adult
By Lowell Dempsey, June 27, 2012
The good news is that more young adults have insurance coverage now than before the health care overhaul took effect–3.1 million more, according to a report released last week by the Department of Health and Human Services showing that the proportion of insured adults ages 19 through 25 has increased to nearly 75 percent. That’s in large part thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurers to allow young adults to remain on their parents’ family plans until they turn 26, even if they move away from home or graduate from college.
According to the Commonwealth Fund (a Burness client), 13.7 million 19- to 25-year olds stayed on or joined their parents’ health plans last year, including 6.6 million who would likely not have been able to do so before passage of the law. That number includes young people who might have previously received insurance from another source, such as an employer or an individual plan, but signed up for their parents’ plans instead, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The bad news is, even with health insurance, young adults continue to struggle with high health care costs.
According to the Commonwealth Fund report Young, Uninsured and in Debt: Why Young Adults Lack Health Insurance and How the Affordable Care Act Is Helping, 41 percent of young adults between ages 19 and 29 failed to get medical care in a recent 12-month period because of cost. More than one-third of young adults ages 19 to 29 had medical bill problems or were paying off medical debt. Many of these young adults were unable to pay off student loans or tuition payments, and had to put education and career plans on hold.
If the law is struck down, the level of debt for young adults will continue to climb, and they will continue to worry about medical bills and not getting access to coverage,” said study author Sara Collins in an interview with CNN Money.
