Will Young Adults Purchase Health Insurance?

Will young adults buy health insurance under Obamacare?

Young adults.  Traditionally, buying individual health insurance has been low on the priority list for this demographic.

Rarely seeking medical attention, many young adults who are not offered coverage from their employer and are too old to be covered on their parents’ plan simply do not have it.

There has been much debate about whether this overall healthy and self-described invincible group of younger, uninsured consumers will buy in to the notion of mandatory health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Will they see the benefits of being covered under a health insurance plan?  Will they be willing to spend the money?

An underlying premise of the ACA is that, yes, young people will buy in — and buy — health insurance!

The pricing structure of plans offered under the new law assumes that the costs of health insurance will be spread across all covered Americans. Younger, healthier people with lower health care costs are essential to making coverage “affordable”.

In other words, we all need healthy young adults to purchase health insurance!

Will they?

A new study by Deft Research and HealthPocket indicates that they will.

When asked if they would choose to purchase health insurance or pay the tax penalty for not doing so, young adults with lower incomes (who would qualify for a health insurance subsidy) were most likely to say they would purchase insurance. The so-called “enrollment sweet spot”, where the federal subsidy will be incentive enough, seems to be 250% of poverty level, with those earning at or below that level most likely to purchase insurance.  (Read the full report here.)

Only time will tell, and we will be watching closely to see what happens.

Open enrollment for plans effective in 2014 begins on October 1, 2013.  We are gearing up here at Virginia Medical Plans and stand ready to help our clients — old and new — get the right coverage, at the best price point, on or off the exchange, with or without a subsidy.

Give us a call!