Census Bureau: Young adults account for the largest share of people without health insurance

According to census data, young adults between the ages of 19 and 34 have the highest uninsured health care rates in the country — and Nicholas Williams wants to fall out of that category.

But he is worried. This is because Williams will turn 26 next month and will no longer be eligible to continue his parents’ health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act regulations.

“26 is the end of the road for me,” Williams said, referring to his current ACA plan. “I’m definitely nervous …. you’re cut off. I’ll be alone.”

Prior to implementing ACA in 2010, health insurance companies set age limits, but ages varied.

Williams, who lives with his family in East Islip, said he was desperately looking for a job with multiple interviews lined up. The need for his health insurance is not far from his heart, he added, saying he was a type 1 diabetics and he had been so since he was 15 years old.

“I use an insulin pump. I also have a blood glucose monitoring system that tracks my blood glucose every 5 minutes. These devices make my life easier and help me manage my diabetes,” said Part. Williams, who worked at Time, said. Temporary work that did not provide insurance. The cost is “managed by insurance. I can’t imagine how much it would cost without insurance.”

According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey released on October 26, people aged 19-34 have the largest share of uninsured people in any age group in the United States, at 15.6%, 0.4 from 2018. The points are higher. Compared to 5.7% under the age of 19 in 2019, 11.3% for adults aged 35-64, and 0.8% for individuals aged 65 and over.

The 26-year-old uninsured rate was the highest among the 1-year-olds, at 18.3%, 3.6 points higher than the 25-year-old uninsured rate, the agency said. In 2019, the 27-year-old uninsured rate was the second highest at 17.5%.

According to a Census Bureau report, “All adults can be compensated through employers, public compensation, or purchases in the medical market, but young adults may purchase health insurance coverage. Low and therefore more likely to be uninsured. Other age groups. “

Daniel Lloyd, 34, founder and president of Minority Millennials, is a grassroots non-profit organization that represents minorities and millennials in policy, and health insurance coverage is the heart of many in his group. Said to be in.

“Many members focus on entrepreneurship, and many continue to work solely for health insurance,” Lloyd said. “That hinders their desire to establish their own business.”

Lloyd, who also works for the Babylon Industrial Development Agency, recalled how similar concerns affected his career trajectory. When he reached the age limit, “I had my health insurance canceled. I was an entrepreneur at the time. I wasn’t too worried because there were no health risks at the time.”

Then came marriage and paternity, and “you have to take that into account,” Lloyd said.

Local health observers say a combination of several factors is working to increase the number of uninsured young adults.

Janine Logan, Senior Director of Communications, Nassau Suffolk Hospital Council, said: “Therefore, there is no longer any obligation to take out insurance. She mentioned the” individual obligation “tax penalties that were part of the ACA and were abolished in 2017. Logan added that young adults “often think they don’t need medical care.”

“I think there will probably be more uninsured people in 2020,” Logan added, hinting at the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rebecca Sanin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Long Island Health and Welfare Council, quoted some issues in an email. She said that some young adults have health insurance through college and “if there is confusion there, it can cause problems.”

In addition, she said, if she met her parents’ plans and reached the age limit, she could lose coverage, or even lose her job and health insurance.

According to Sanin, her organization has been helping clients get health insurance for 20 years. She further claims that “ACA protects young people under the age of 26. If that protection is lost as a result of an assault on ACA, our young adult population will be much more likely to: Expected to be vulnerable to. It will be access to care. “