Here's what you need to know that isn't included in any of the industry's talking points:
Young adults comprise the largest segment of the uninsured. That's primarily because they either don't have jobs that offer coverage or they don't make enough money to pay the premiums insurance companies charge./
Because so many of them have low (or no) incomes, an estimated eight million of the currently uninsured 18 to 34-year-olds will qualify for Medicaid if all states expand eligibility to include people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL).
Another 9 million will qualify for subsidies on the new state exchanges, where options will be better than what the current market offers because junk insurance with ridiculously limited benefits and high deductibles will be outlawed. According to the Young Invincibles, a nonprofit advocacy group, of the 11.2 million uninsured young people between 21 and 29, almost 90 percent will be eligible for subsidies. So most young folks will be able to get decent coverage for less than what they can find today.
And if they have better-than-average jobs and make too much to qualify for subsidized coverage (subsidies will be available for individuals earning up to 400 percent of the FPL) the ACA gives people under 30 the option of buying cheaper "catastrophic" policies.
As the Young Invincibles pointed out in a recent letter to the federal government, of the 6.2 million uninsured between 21 to 25, approximately 5 million earn below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. And of those in that age range who currently have private coverage and earn more than that, only 2.5 percent will be adversely affected by the age rating changes.
While it's regrettable that even 2.5 percent of people in that age group will likely have to pay more, it's not a good enough reason to delay or repeal an important provision of the law that will make coverage more affordable for many more Americans. Don't let the insurance industry and its allies convince you otherwise with studies that don't tell the whole story.
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