Young adults--those 19 to 29 years old--are rapidly becoming one of the largest groups of uninsured people in the United States, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study. In 2004, 13.7 million young adults had no health insurance--a jump of 2.5 million in four years. Although young adults make up only 17% of the population under age 65, they represent 30% of the nonelderly uninsured. Young people are often thrust into the world or college without health insurance because, after age 19, they may be dropped from their parents’ health insurance unless they are full-time college students. Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program also cut off benefits to children at age 19. As a result, 40% of part-time students and nonstudents are uninsured, compared with 20% of full-time college students. And two out of five recent college graduates will lack health insurance as they work in entry-level jobs, are employed by small companies, or frequently change jobs.
Yet young adults suffer a greater proportion of injuries requiring emergency department visits than the rest of the population, many will get pregnant, and they are at high risk for HIV. The study’s authors recommend that businesses extend parents’ health coverage to dependent children beyond age 18 or 19; that all college students be required to have health insurance and that colleges offer insurance; and that Medicaid and SCHIP continue coverage beyond age 18. Read the study.
