Replacing Aspirin and Hope with Insurance

By Sunni Monson, Policy Associate, September 23, 2011 at 7:30 am

Leading up to college graduation, I recall worrying about the impending loss of my health insurance. This was before the Affordable Care Act’s provision allowing young adults to remain insured under their family policy until age 26.

Even after gaining insurance as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow, high deductibles and a small monthly stipend shaped a simple personal creed shared by millions of uninsured Americans: “Do not get sick, and whatever you do, do not get injured.”

Having accepted the financial impossibility of either, I stocked my medicine cabinet with Vitamin-C, aspirin, Alka-Seltzer and hope, a luxury compared to those with chronic health conditions who cannot choose to simply “do without.”

Under Obama’s plan, I became re-eligible for coverage. Now, neither I nor an impressive 72.8 percent of my insured peers need to hope as fiercely against being involved in a catastrophic accident.

Recently the New York Times ran an article discussing dramatic increases in insurance coverage among adults in the 19-25 age bracket who have been replaced by 25-34 year olds as the group least likely to be insured.

Three new surveys illustrate the weight of this transition. According to an estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 900,000 fewer uninsured adults in the 19-25 age range in the first quarter of 2011 than in 2010. Moreover, for every other age group, the rate of those insured decreased in the same period.

These trends are remarkable considering 19-25 year olds’ high recession unemployment rate, nearly double that of older Americans.

The security of knowing that health conditions such as diabetes will not go untreated upon graduation and the freedom to pursue opportunities beyond securing employment with health insurance benefits has opened up tremendous economic advantages for young college graduates.

As we work toward a more equitable health care system, let us look beyond just what is not working, but at something that, for 900,000 more young Americans, has already begun to make tangible differences.