Young Adults Make Gains in Health Insurance Coverage

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

Young adults, long the group most likely to be uninsured, are gaining health coverage faster than expected since the 2010 health law began allowing parents to cover them as dependents on family policies.

Three new surveys, including two released on Wednesday, show that adults under 26 made significant and unique gains in insurance coverage in 2010 and the first half of 2011. One of them, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates that in the first quarter of 2011 there were 900,000 fewer uninsured adults in the 19-to-25 age bracket than in 2010.

This was despite deep hardship imposed by the recession, which has left young adults unemployed at nearly double the rate of older Americans, with incomes sliding far faster than the national average.

The Obama administration, intent on showcasing the benefits of a law that has been pilloried by Republicans, attributes the improvement to a provision of the Affordable Care Act that permits parents to cover dependents up to their 26th birthdays. Until that measure took effect one year ago this week, children typically had to roll off their parents’ family policies at 18 or 21 or when they left college.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/us/young-adults-make-gains-in-health-insurance-coverage.html

[MannyGoldstein]

1. But middle-aged adults (45-65), most likely to *need* health insurance and

who are not on Medicare, lost coverage in significant numbers - http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf">810,000 lost coverage last year.

I'm not necessarily saying that it's because of Health Insurance "Reform", and I'm not saying that it won't get better. But, certainly, a lot of people are feeling a lot more pain then they did a year ago - and some of those people will die as a result.

And if the age of Medicare eligibility is raised to 67, as even certain elected Democrats have (incredibly!) proposed, the pain will be that much worse.

[dotymed]

2. You are right and America is morally (too) bankrupt.

Although Obama has been pretty much a corporate clone, These provisions allowing us to keep our young adults on our policies (this makes me sick health care is a RIGHT) has saved lives and allowed our children a little respect in a society gone rabid.

[Yo_Mama]

3. But they don't help families who can't afford the premium

We have to be realistic about this - some policies are charging far more than most families can possibly afford to pay.

[BenzoDia]

4. Great news. This plus the other protections in the Affordable Care Act should lead to a healthier

country.

edit:
spelling

[NorthCarolina]

5. Good...but what about the 27 to 55 crowd? Aren't the numbers of uninsured rising for that group? nt.

[onehandle]

6. And yet a fraction of them will get to the polls next year. nt