Wednesday, June 07, 2006
NEW YORK - Americans in their 20s is one of the largest segments of the inhabitants lacking health insurance, and new research suggests the problem is growing.
In 2004, nearly 14 million Americans among 19 and 29 years old were uninsured, an increase of 2.5 million since 2000, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a private investigate foundation that focuses on health and social issues.
The result is that the health coverage problem is the majority acute among low-income young adults, who frequently do not attend college and often have jobs with no health benefits.
At any given time, 40 percent of 19- to 23-year-olds who do not be present at college or are part-time students have no health insurance, according to Collins and her colleagues. Commonwealth Fund reviews in 2005 found that among workers ages 19 to 29, 43 percent of those who make less than $10 an hour were uninsured.
But even many college graduates face a important period without health insurance, the study authors say. Of students who adapt between 1996 and 2000, they report, 38 percent were uninsured for at least part of the following year, with 21 percent leaving without coverage for six months or longer.
Collins and her colleagues offer three wide measures they say can address the problem. Regarding Medicaid and SCHIP, they propose Congress require states to extend coverage several years beyond age 18.
"Such a policy change," the researchers write, "could help the 2.9 million uninsured youthful adults ages 19 to 23 with incomes under 100 percent of poverty."
posted by kanth
@ 3:00 AM
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