Young adults between ages 19 and 29 are among the first U.S. groups to benefit from the Affordable Care Act, with more than 600,000 who were previously uninsured having obtained medical insurance coverage, a new report shows.
The report entitled “Realizing Health Reform's Potential: How the Affordable Care Act is Helping Young Adults Stay Covered” by the Commonwealth Fund found that last year 45 percent of young adults could not afford the care they needed, defined as being unable to fill a prescription, go to the doctor or skipped a test, treatment or follow-up visit due to cost. That is up from 32 percent who went without needed care in 2001 due to cost.
The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation established in 1918 to enhance the common good. It carries out its mission by supporting independent research on healthcare issues and making grants to improve healthcare practice and policy both in the U.S. and in other industrialized countries.
The report is part of the series of issue briefs examining the way the U.S. Affordable Care Act of 2010 will benefit different populations and groups, as well as improve insurance coverage and change the delivery of care.
The report found that five national insurance carriers show that most of those 600,000 young adults who obtained coverage did so under their parent’s health insurance plans. Allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ plans until age 26 was a key provision of the Affordable Care Act.
The report authors say that the number of young adults taking advantage of that provision is expected to rise through the summer as they graduate from high school and college at a time they are facing very difficult employment prospects.
"This is not an easy time for young adults—they are struggling to find employment in a difficult job market, and are among the age groups hardest hit by rising health care costs," said Commonwealth Fund Vice President and lead report author, Sara Collins. "But the Affordable Care Act has made things better for hundreds of thousands of young people, including this year's college graduates many of whom can remain on or join their parents' plans until they find a job that provides health insurance. In the past these young people would have had to go without insurance, or pay high prices for bare-bones coverage on the individual market."
The report found that the improvement for young adults comes at a critical time as uninsured young adults were among the groups having the most difficulty in affording the care they needed. Among young adults without insurance 58 percent delayed getting needed care due to cost compared to 34 percent of those who did have insurance. In addition 52 percent of the uninsured young adults were having problems paying their medical bills, and had medical debt compared to only 25 percent of insured young adults.
Among those employed with insurance, 38 percent of those earning more than $21,600 delayed care due to costs, up from 25 percent of those young adults in 2001.
The report projected that by 2014, when the ACA is fully implemented, an estimated 13 million young adults could gain health insurance coverage, most of it subsidized either by employers or federal aid. The report outlined how that will be achieved citing provisions in the Affordable Care Act.
An estimated 1.7 million young adults will again be covered under their parents’ plans by 2013. Another 1.6 million will gain coverage through their college health plans, which will have to follow most of the same rules that private individual health plans now face under the ACA. These include eliminating lifetime coverage limits and phasing out annual limits.
Starting in 2014 an estimated 7.2 million uninsured young adults with incomes 133 percent below the federal poverty level will begin receiving coverage under Medicaid. In addition, state health insurance exchanges will offer comprehensive private health insurance and expand coverage to another 4.9 million young adults who will qualify for subsidies.
Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis summarized the report saying that among the groups most in need of help in obtaining health insurance to gain access to care, young adults are poised to gain the most from the ACA.
“Things are changing for the better, and in 2014, nearly all young adults will have access to comprehensive and affordable health insurance they need,” Davis said, “allowing them to pursue their lives and career goals without the worry that one serious illness or accident could derail their future plans.”
The full report is available at the: How the Affordable Care Act Is Helping Young Adults Stay Covered
By Michael O’Leary, contributing writer, Health Imaging Hub
