Being a college student, I am very concerned with health issuance issues like cost and what happens when I graduate. We all know how expensive our school insurance is and how little it covers. I know that if my financial aid did not cover the cost then I wouldn’t have any at all. Because finical aid does cover it I don’t have to worry about it for a few years but after I graduate I will not be able to afford it. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the first 6 months of 2011 compared to all of 2012, the health insurance rate declined in people ages 19 to 25.
The article ‘Health Insurance Coverage of Young Adults Aged 19 to 25:2008, 2009, and 2011‘ discusses the insurance coverage of people aged 19 to 25 and how the new law played a huge role in the changes.
The new law that I am referring to is a standardized national law that came into affect in 2010 were children under the age of 26 can be covered by their parents’ private health insurance. Because of the change in law, the article shows data from the two years before the change (2008 and 2009) and after (2011). The Census Bureau also compares those statistics to those aged 26 to 29, who were unable to be covered under their parents insurance.
The article states that there is not much of a difference of stats between the age groups 19 to 25 and 26 to 29 before the new law. In 2009, both groups dropped 1.1%-1.2%. After the new law the two groups were no longer changing at the same rate. From 2009 to 2011, the insurance rate of people aged 19 to 25 increased from 68.3% to 71.8%. Whereas people aged 26 to 29, their insurance rate decreased from 71.1% to 70.3%.
Hopefully soon we will find a solution to fix the health insurance issues in the country. According to these statistics, it is not looking good to anyone over the age of 26.
I am a 33 year old, single mother trying to go to school to better myself for my sake and my son’s sake. I completely understand what you are referring to when speaking about the cost of health insurance. I am taking over my allotted amount of classes so I don’t have the luxury of using financial aid to cover my insurance and MassHealth doesn’t apply when you are going to school I am told, however I have my son covered on MassHealth now because I have no choice. If I were to get a private insurance policy there is no way I could afford it. When I was divorced my ex husband was supposed to cover us on his insurance and believe me it’s excellent but he has yet to add us and the courts are not making him at this time so it’s on me. There are so many worries that a person has to take on, on a daily basis you would think Health Insurance could be a little easier. I too am in great hopes that a solution will be sought out, sooner rather than later!
The health care situation is definitely enough to create a financial burden on anyone. If you are not covered by your employer these days I believe the rate is anywhere between $600-$900 for families??? How is that even realistic? If it is the law and everyone has to be covered and this economy does not improve then how can everyone be expected to have health insurance? It has to be made more affordable or more jobs need to open up. I am fortunate enough to be covered under my employer, but there are limitations on what is covered and what isn’t. Also, each year the copays increase and the rate that the employee contributes out of pocket increases as well.
This was some good information that I was unaware of. I was happy to hear that they extended childrens coverage until the age of 26 under their parents. This is both good and bad. The children are being covered, so thats great. But the down side is that means that there aren’t as many full-time jobs out there that also offer insurence. Everything is in hard times right now. We have to be thankful when we do find a full-time job with benefits. I know I am thankful everyday. Would I rather be home with my two girls? Absoultly. But now a days it seems like that isn’t possible.
I am not surprised to hear that the insurance rate for ages 26-29 decreased. Like you said, I have health insurance now, but I would not be able to afford it if i had to pay for it. I would assume that lots of others cannot afford it either, which would be causing the percentage of insured to drop.
I believe we do need a universal health care system in this country. All other westernized countries have universal health care. The problem is that we are the ones bearing the burden of this transition. Imagine if no one were obligated to have car insurance. That would be a real mess. There was a time when this country went through a transition with that as well. Basically, the worst that will happen to you if you don’t pay a monthly insurance premium, is you must pay a $1,800 penalty (or thereabouts) on your IRS form. Ok, so you go ahead and pay that. So you basically self insure, instead of paying $400-$900 per month, you prepare for the worst if something catastrophic happens. You hope that you can work something out with the hospital to pay your bills. I know, it is a real mess right now. Mostly because the health insurance lobbyists have many in congress on their payroll. I believe we must hang in there through this mess, and it will straighten out. By the way, when I did research on this a while ago for my own insurance search, I came across an organization called Christian Healthcare Ministries that Massachusetts recognizes. It is alot less than traditional insurance companies. I didn’t end up using it, but for what it is worth, it is a good option.
I didn’t know all of this is happening. I was lucky to be able to stay on my parents plan. But what I did know is that you can stay on your parents plan til your 26, both my sisters did that. With out health insurance it really sucks. It can be a really hard time but sooner or later you probably end up with it.
Health Insurance is a hot topic for me for many reasons:
Does the health insurance “issue” for people under 26 reflect a change in the mindset of the younger generation or a shift in how health insurance works?
When I graduated from my undergraduate degree in 2001, I got a job. My job had health insurance. It was in NYC and when the world trade center was hit, I moved to Berkshire County and got another job… with health insurance. I was raised with health insurance and it was always just something we had and so in my mind, it was something you did. Now I’m not sure of the quality of the insurance at these jobs because I was a healthy woman in my early 20s and did little more than pay into the system. The point is that I got health insurance and I didn’t whine about the price or what it covered because that’s just how it was (don’t get mad at me yet kids…)
When I was a child, I was constantly sick and I remember being in the doctor’s office getting prescriptions and sitting with a doctor and talking about my health. My mom paid a co-pay of $5-$20 over my life. The health insurance I have now has 5 different “plan” options that range from $2000/ yr out of my paycheck for a family of 3 and they cover 80% of every appointment (except physicals are covered) and a $2400 deductible, to $6000/ yr out of paycheck, with a $25 copay and a $1200 deductible. For those of you doing the math, that means if I pay $2000 out of my paycheck and I use my whole deductible, I still only pay $4400/ yr… cheaper than the price of admission into a deductible plan. This also means that since I have to pay for Dr. appointments, my 3 yr old has been sick for a week and I fear the phrase “nothing we can do”, so we don’t use our insurance. I’m pretty sure the shift to this type of health insurance became prevalent around or slightly before the change in coverage for children up to 26.
So, is it the job market that doesn’t provide our young people with insurance (I might also add that my $2000 insurance costs my company $7000/ yr)??? Is it kids that figure their parents can cover them for just a little bit longer? Or is it the insurance companies that create plans that are unreasonably priced for the coverage they offer???
Health insurance is a huge problem, especially with young adults because they are trying to find employment and trying to pay the high cost of private insurance, not to mention communicating to the insurance companies is such a hassle. I know from previously working in human resources that most employers do go out to bid each year to see what insurance company can over the employer & employee the best packages but because the rates go up each year, at least 5%, higher deductibles and co-pays are usually the answer to making the premiums lower. It is really not a win/win situation when it comes health insurance for the employees or the employers, and definitely not for young adults with no health insurance.
Health insurance has been a problem for me too. I was kicked off my parents a couple of years ago and have been fighting to get it since. I work part time so I can not get it there and I don’t have enough financial aid to cover it through school. I fought and fought with mass health to get on their insurance and I just kept getting the run around. In the beginning of the year I was having health problems and finally got on one of their plans. So for the time being i have that. Lets all hope they get this insurance stuff worked out soon!
The good news seems to be that the new laws about children staying on their parents’ plan has increased the amount of people covered by health insurance. But this is only a tiny percentage of the population: The first restriction is age (19-25), and the second is kids whose parents actually have AND provide them with health insurance. If someone’s parents are unable to get health insurance, then that’s two or three people without any insurance. There has to be some kind of legislation for universal health care, but this is so much easier said than done. Maybe a universal health care option will result in bad coverage, which seems to be the case in Canada. How do they do it up there?
There is a burden to carry health insurance. It is difficult being a single person, I can not imagine having to carry a family plan. I am fortunate enough to work for a health care organization in which we receive a discounted rate for our insurance. If we use one of our own doctors and hospitals in our health system we do not have to pay for a deductible.
I did comment on this before in one of the forums. Health insurance is rediculously expensive! It seems that if people can afford the insurance they can’t afford to use it. I think that if insurance is required then they should include all the co-pays and such in the price. One flat rate that covers everything. I know that there are other countries that do this.