Congressional proposals to reform the health system could help uninsured young adults gain coverage and prevent others from losing it, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
Census data shows that those between 19 and 29 are one of the largest segment of the U.S. population without health insurance; 13.2 million, or 29 percent, lacked coverage in 2007.
A new issue brief by the Commonwealth Fund says young adults often lose coverage at age 19 or upon high school or college graduation – 38 percent of high school graduates who do not enroll in college and one-third of college graduates are uninsured for a time during the first year after graduation. Twenty-six states have passed laws to expand coverage of dependents to young adults under parents' insurance policies.
According to the brief, young adults usually can't gain coverage through low-wage and temporary jobs available to them. Those in college can stay on their parents' coverage until they graduate, after which insurance companies no longer cover them. Fifteen percent of 20-to-24-year-olds were unemployed in June 2009, up from 10 percent one year earlier.
Although young adults are generally healthy, going without insurance disrupts their access to the healthcare system and introduces barriers to care when it is needed, according to the Commonwealth Fund. In addition, 15 percent of young adults ages 18-29 have one of six chronic health conditions: arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease or hypertension.
The Commonwealth Fund brief also noted that more than half of young adults ages 18-29 are above what is considered to be a healthy weight, and 28 percent are overweight. In addition, 36 percent of women ages 20-29 are infected with human papillomavirus (HPV), 21 percent of women and 29 percent of men ages 18-29 regularly smoke, and there were 2.6 million live births in 2007 among women ages 18-29.