September 20, 2013 -- Most uninsured nonelderly adults—even the so-called “young invincibles”—believe they need health insurance, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).
Among uninsured adults aged 18 to 29 without access to employer coverage, only two in 10 (22.1%) believe they are “healthy enough” to go without insurance, according to the study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). While many feel health insurance is much-needed, fewer believe coverage is currently affordable.
Starting January 1, 2014, new federal subsidies will be available for lower- to middle-income people to purchase private, nongroup coverage through new health insurance exchanges. Such funding may change the calculations of whether coverage is affordable for many uninsured people. A key issue for the exchanges is whether enough younger and healthier people will sign up for coverage to avoid significant adverse selection in which only older and sicker uninsured adults enroll, thus driving up premiums.
“Even among uninsured young people who call themselves risk-takers, most say that going without health insurance is one risk they don’t want to take,” said Kathy Hempstead, senior program officer at RWJF. “These results show that demand for coverage is strong, even in this challenging demographic. The challenge for the marketplaces will be to meet this demand by providing these “young invincibles” with products they can afford. If they do, that will benefit everyone.”
The study found that while younger uninsured people typically have few or no health problems, are self-described risk-takersand more likely to believe they can go without health insurance, even a majority of these so-called “young invincibles” believe health insurance is important.
