The current debate over healthcare reform has dealt a great deal with how to provide coverage for the nearly 46 million Americans who are currently uninsured. There are a variety of reasons why someone may be uninsured: they were recently laid off from their job, they own or work for a small business that cannot afford to provide them with insurance, or they are denied insurance due to a "preexisting condition."
One of the largest groups of uninsured Americans is young people.
An article in today's Washington Post cites a 2008 study by the Urban Institute, which found that "more than 10 million young adults ages 19 to 26 lack health insurance coverage." Many pundits and legislators like to argue that young people believe that they are "invincible," and thus do not need coverage, but the truth of the matter is that many young people lack insurance not by choice, but because they either cannot find work or their current job does not provide them with insurance.
Since graduating from college and subsequently being removed from my father's insurance plan, I have wavered back and forth between having insurance and not having insurance, as I moved from job to job: waitressing, working on campaigns, and holding various temp jobs during the time between campaigns. I was recently laid off from a job that provided me with health insurance and am currently not covered. I consider myself very lucky that I am in good health. But I certainly do not consider myself to be "invincible" and know that at any moment, something devastating could happen to my health. Not having insurance is not something that I am happy about, but it's something I have to live with and try not to worry about while I deal with my other worries of finding a new job and focusing on my studies.
The healthcare bill introduced today by Senator Max Baucus is a travesty for many reasons, especially since it does not include a public option, but also because of the fact that it mandates coverage. According to
the Washington Post article:
"...the Finance Committee bill would fine individuals who do not purchase coverage. An early draft of the proposal set the penalty at $750 or $950 per year for single people, depending on income. But according to various insurance experts, even the least expensive plan under the bill could cost more than $100 per month, making it cheaper for people to pay the fine than to buy insurance."
This proposal misses the entire reason that many uninsured people, especially young people, don't have health insurance! While $100 per month is certainly cheaper than most private insurance plans and COBRA, which can cost up to $300 per month, and should be available as an option for those who can afford it, it is still a great deal of money to someone who just lost their job and is trying to figure out how to make ends meet. Most young people who aren't covered by their employer simply cannot afford insurance on their own. Penalizing them for not having insurance would simply be kicking them while they're already down and add to the mountains of debt that they've already accrued from student loans and credit cards.
It is clear that legislators need to make an effort to meet with young people to understand their concerns. Instead of giving young people one more financial burden to keep them up at night, why not create more jobs and make it more affordable for businesses to provide their employees with healthcare? In addition, federal lawmakers should look into replicating
a bill that New York Governor Paterson just signed into law that, among other methods of making health insurance more affordable to all "requires insurers to allow unmarried children through age 29 – regardless of financial dependence – to be covered under a parent’s group health insurance policy...Under the new law, premiums will be paid for by families, not employers, and would cost less because coverage is under group policies rather than individual policies. The law also requires insurers to offer employers an option to purchase coverage that includes young adults as dependents in family policies through age 29."
Young people want to be able to afford health insurance, and Congress needs to listen to their concerns instead of making assumptions about why they lack coverage. I have faith that Congress can come up with a better way of providing healthcare coverage to all than punishing the uninsured.
