More Young Americans Living Without Health Insurance
Results of a new US study released by the Commonwealth Fund, find that more and more young Americans are living without any form of health insurance.
The report, entitled Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help, used census data to calculate the numbers, that show that 13.79 million Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 are living without health insurance, a number up from 2005 statistics.
In an interview with Reuters, Sara Collins, one of the report’s authors stated that: “There has been a steady upward climb in the number of young adults without health insurance coverage.”
There are a number of theories as to why this is the case, with one of the more interesting ones being that young people simply do not value health insurance as greatly as older people, who are at a greater risk of using it more often.
Another theory is that young people are much less likely to be offered health insurance coverage by their employers than are older workers.
The report found that 66% of young Americans who went without health insurance in 2006, had gone without needed medical attention due to the associated cost.
“Lack of coverage and access to health care services puts the health of young adults at risk, and can subject them, as well as their families, to potentially dire financial consequences,” said Collins.
Tags: access to health care, census data, commonwealth fund, financial consequences, health, health care, health care service, health care services, Health Insurance, health insurance coverage, insurance, medical attention, older workers, reuters, risk, rite of passage, sara collins, value health, young adults