According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation report, 75 percent of uninsured Americans are unaware that March 31 is the last day to buy an Obamacare health plan. If they fail to sign up by then, they will have to pay a penalty of $47.50 per child and $95 per adult.
It’s safe to say that uninsured young adults make up a large portion of that 75 percent. As is widely reported, the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) long-term viability is contingent on their participation.
Young Invincibles (YI) is an organization dedicated to helping young adults, 18 to 34, understand and purchase affordable health insurance. Colin Seeberger, YI’s national communications coordinator, thinks young adults want insurance, but don’t know their options. ”Young adults haven’t gone without insurance because they don’t want it or think they need it. They’ve gone without it because they haven’t been able to afford it,” he said. “I believe as more of them find out that healthcare is now an affordable option for them, they will get covered.”
For example, according to Seeberger, the average income of an uninsured 25-year-old Texan is $18,000. If they purchase a plan off the Texas exchange, they, and anyone else in that income bracket, could pay less than $25/month for their monthly premiums, according to Kaiser’ssubsidy calculator.
To help young adults understand their true costs and become health literate, YI launched the Healthy Young America mobile app. As an incentive, those who download it can win $1,200, which would likely cover a year’s worth of insurance premiums. A recent Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) press release states that 66 percent of uninsured young adults are eligible to pay less than $100 per month for coverage.
Another resource is GoHealth, a website that offers access to the government exchanges. Customers who purchase plans using GoHealth will still qualify for the federal subsidies. In addition, they will have access to licensed insurance advisers.
According to Mark Colwell, director of consumer marketing at GoHealth: “The difference between GoHealth and healthcare.gov is we have licensed advisers that are trained and certified. They actually will talk to a person about their health status: what conditions they have, what doctors they go to, how many family members they have, what their income is. They will look at all the information and recommend the appropriate plans. Healthcare.gov and the other sites don’t have the ability to do that because they don’t have licensed and certified advisers. Because of this, they can’t make any plan recommendations.”
So the resources are there, but will these young adults take advantage of them? The first year Massachusetts required its citizens to purchase health insurance, most young adults bought their plan during the last few weeks. Also, as evident by the 2012 campaign, Obama supporters are masters at grassroots campaigning. More than 4,000 local events will be held in the next 3 weeks. To find an event in your area, visit the new website www.acafinancialhelp.com.
If someone misses the March 31 deadline, they will still be able to purchase a limited selection of plans on the private market. These plans won’t qualify for federal subsidies, unless the person has a qualifying life event, like moving to a new state or changing jobs.
If you are still shopping for coverage, you must purchase an ACA plan by March 15 for coverage to start April 1.
Remember to send me your thoughts and questions via email, follow me on Twitter, or post your comments and questions directly on this page.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Ben