KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The government and insurers are counting on young adults to enroll in Obamacare. But there isn’t much interest so far and a new report finds that enrolling young adults may not help to lower costs as much as many had assumed.
Michael Villarreal, a UMKC student, is focused on friends, classes and work. Even though he’s uninsured, he isn’t interested in the health insurance marketplace.
“I really don’t have the time to like look into it,” said Vallarreal.
It’s not exactly what the administration and insurers want to hear. They’ve said that young healthy people are key to the success of the marketplace since they offset the costs of older, sick people. So far, only a quarter of the early buyers on some state exchanges are adults under 35.
Just across the street from UMKC, the Shepherd Center has navigators helping people understand their insurance options. But young people?
“We really haven’t seen any of them,” said Pam Seymour, a Shepherd Center navigator.
Seymour said maybe it has to do with all the website problems and the deadline being March 31.
“But above all, most of them are computer literate and probably feel they can navigate themselves,” said Seymour.
Nichole Jenkins, a UMKC student, is a little leery of buying.
“I don’t trust a lot insurance companies to not take advantage of young people getting into it for the first time,” Jenkins explained.
But there may not be as much advantage for insurers as you’d think. An analysis from the firm BeyondCore finds that having more young adults in the insurance pool won’t lower costs that much since 18 percent of those on insurance plans now have diagnosed mental health problems.
“It can be costly if you have a mental illness and you need help with that,” Seymour pointed out.
She said it’s a reason for young adults to enroll in health insurance. But it’s not good news for insurers hoping to keep costs down.
