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Young Adults Without Health Insurance
Recent reports show that as many as thirty-nine percent of high-school and thirty-five percent of college graduates will spend at least part of their first year out of school without health insurance. The number of uninsured young adults has risen each year since 2003. In 2005, over thirteen million people between the ages of nineteen and twenty-nine went without health insurance, and closer to fourteen million went without in 2006.
The reason that young adults are prone to go without insurance is because there are transition periods: many insurance companies discontinue your policy when you graduate, or if you’re no longer considered dependent. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid– both public programs– discontinue coverage at the age of nineteen, expecting young adults to find a job with health benefits. Unfortunately, many of the jobs available to this age group simply don’t have health insurance policies, or they may kick in after being employed for a certain length of time– and getting a job may be easier said than done, especially for young adults without a college education. No one wants to be stuck without health insurance when an accident arises, and particularly at a financially vulnerable time in their lives.
Efforts Being Made to Insure Young Adults
Although lack of insurance is still an issue with younger people, there has been some progress to remedy the situation; twenty states have passed laws obliging insurance providers to lengthen insurance coverage for minors past the ages of eight- and nineteen. The age limits in these states can range from twenty-four years old, up to thirty elsewhere. An additional law has been proposed that would cover young adults up to the age of twenty-five, if the son or daughter is considered dependent and their parent works for the government.
The biggest boon could come from federal programs (such as Medicaid)– which cover our nation’s poorest and, thus, most at risk– being compelled to extend their coverage by several years. Far more of the lower class goes without health insurance yearly than does the middle and upper classes. Such a change would cover over seven million uninsured young adults living well below the poverty line. States could also help by having the universities– which they fund– provide insurance for both part- and full-time students.
The problem of young adults going without health insurance needs to addressed in the public and private sectors. Health coverage, first, needs to be more affordable, which involves reducing the costs of necessary medical care. Unless universal health care becomes a reality, something needs to be done about our country’s uninsured young adults soon.