White House: Half of young adults can get coverage for $50
The Obama administration released a report Monday evening saying that half of single, uninsured adults will be able to purchase coverage for under $50 a month under Obamacare.
More than 1 million single adults between the ages of 18 and 35 will be able to purchase the lowest cost bronze plan on the new insurance exchanges for under $50, the report from the Health and Human Services agency says. That’s about 46 percent of uninsured young adults in the 34 states that provided information to the agency. An additional 1 million single, uninsured young adults would qualify for Medicaid in these states, due to the expansion of the program.
The Obama administration released the findings the same day NBC News reported that 50 to 75 percent of people who currently buy health insurance on individual markets will receive a cancellation letter within the year because their plans do not meet new standards in the health care reform law. Some of those consumers will face higher costs when they purchase insurance on the exchanges, even with the federal subsidies that many people qualify for under the law.
The Obama administration badly needs young, uninsured people to sign up for health insurance in order to bring down costs for older, sicker people. Administration officials are likely to tout their finding that coverage will be affordable for most of the youngsters as a way to encourage them to sign up. Polls have found that most young people, who make up the bulk of the uninsured in the country, list cost as their main reason for not having health insurance.
The administration is planning an aggressive outreach to convince these so-called young invincibles to sign up for coverage on the glitch-plagued website, HealthCare.gov. The White House is hosting a youth conference in early December, which will bring young leaders from across the country to Washington to learn more about the law in the hope that they’ll spread the word to the coveted 18-to-35 demographic. Young entrepreneurs, student body presidents, local TV and radio personalities and leaders of various youth organizations will be invited, according to a White House official. Administration officials will also show up on college campuses around the country, building on their outreach efforts so far.
