The National Academy for State Health Policy reports that 30% of those aged 19-29 are not insured. For those of you who are more visual, that's 3 out of 10 of your friends who would have to pay hundreds of dollars if they were to accidentally dislocate their shoulder during a basketball game or rockclimbing or whatever floats your boat (knock on wood x 3)... just for x-rays. Three out of your ten friends who probably shouldn't go skydiving with you anytime soon. That's not cool, not cool at all. I'm 24, and as of August 2009, I, too will also be uninsured and have no intentions of getting a job until October (and no, it's not because I'm lazy, I have to study for the board exam to become a Registered Dietitian!). Health insurance that I had paid $700 for 8 months and feel like I didn't even use (which is probably a good thing so why am I complaining) will be gone. For those two months, I should probably stay in. Probably skip skydiving and hang-gliding and whatever else my friends had in store to do. This age range is the fastest growing segment of the population to be uninsured. That's us. This is our problem. What are we going to do about it?
Luckily for us, 34 states have now passed laws requiring insurers to allow children to stay on their parents' health insurance plan well into their twenties or even age 30 in certain circumstances. I'd like to find out if this applies to me, who was "kicked out" of my parents' health insurance at the age of 22. That was my cut-off. That was my transition into adulthood. This is good news. Although, keep in mind that there are some limitations. For example, you can't be married and have children of your own and still be under your parents' insurance, regardless of your age.
So, with that said and done, this still won't solve increasing health care costs, nor will it stop kids from getting sick. Just the other week I had read that "1 in 4 adults in Illinois are obese". That, too, applies to me. Obesity increases our risks of many serious diseases including diabetes, heart problems, sleep disorders, cancer, and much more. In this case, prevention really is key, and I'm ready to do something about it.
Photo courtesy http://waysideyarc.org/images/home%20page%20group.jpg
3 comments:
This is such a serious issue -- not just because the govt. is making healthcare into a priority, but because day to day, it's a huge burden.
If you've just graduated and are job-hunting, you can't go without health care, but you may not be able to afford it, either.
In these difficult times, can health care providers change their policies without being pushed into a corner by federal or state mandates?
Truth be told, as hopeful as I'd like to be, it's hard to say what health care providers are able to do at this point, especially with all this pressure from the government. It does scare me though. Being a new graduate, without a job, without health insurance. Might as well just hide at home until the economy picks up again. But then again, I would really rather not considering that it might take another 10-15 years according to Suze Ormann.
I live in a state that passed a law requiring health insurance companies to insure dependants until they are 25, but unfortunately there are ways around it and several of my friend lost insurance when they were 19. I lost my parent's insurance coverage right when I graduated college, but it wasn't until eight months later that I found a full-time job with benefits. You can get "emergency insurance" that will save you in a catastrophe but full coverage is way too expensive.
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