The most recent Affordable Care Act enrollment numbers show that after the program’s first month of open enrollment, fewer young people are signing up than expected.
As of Nov. 6, 2,344 Californians aged 18 to 25 had enrolled for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, according to the Covered California website. More recent numbers were not available.
The 2,344 enrolled comprise 8 percent of California’s total enrollment, according to Covered California’s website. People aged 18 to 25 comprise 7 percent of the state’s population.
Sarah Sol, a Covered California spokesperson, said the numbers aren’t as high as she expected, but they show that young people are signing up nonetheless.
“We did have a lot of enrollees who were older, which makes sense because this was the first month of open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act,” Sol said. “We would expect to have a lot of interest from people who had been denied health coverage in the past because of pre-existing conditions or illnesses.”
The Affordable Care Act relies on young people signing up to offset the costs of insuring older people, who cost more to cover, said Alyssa Farah, spokeswoman for the conservative and libertarian youth activism organization Young Americans for Liberty.
“Young, healthy people are cheaper to insure,” Farah said. “But if they choose not to enroll in [the Affordable Care Act], the pool of insurance policy holders will be older, less healthy and thus more expensive to insure.”
Farah said that the Affordable Care Act is dependent on young people because the White House projected it needs 2.7 million young Americans to enroll for the Affordable Care Act by 2014 to offset the costs of covering less healthy and older Americans.
According to healthcare.gov, the website used to register for the Affordable Care Act, people who can afford health insurance but do not buy coverage by 2014 will have to pay a penalty amounting to 1 percent of their annual household income or $95 per adult and $47.50 per minor, whichever amount is higher.
Some students who have not enrolled yet, like junior art major Ngan Ho, said they think the change could benefit both healthy, young people and unhealthy people alike. They also said they feel that penalties are a good incentive to enroll.
Others, though, like junior pre-nursing major Brianda Gonzalez, said they think it’s unfair to penalize people who do not enroll.
“If you don’t have medical insurance, it’s probably because [people] can’t afford it, so not signing up and being fined is stupid,” she said. “That just adds more financial problems for people.”
Gonzalez also said that with the issues healthcare.gov has been having, it’s not surprising that some people don’t want to sign up, especially if they can’t access the information needed to enroll.
Ashley Montanez, a junior pre-nursing student, said she is currently under her parent’s insurance plan, and she’s glad that she doesn’t have to worry about the Affordable Care Act.
Senior kinesiology major Ani Deswal, on the other hand, said that although he hasn’t had time to sign up, he is eager to and he understands why others might be reluctant to enroll.
“It comes down to necessity,” Deswal said. “Students are pretty healthy for the most part. It’s not about having healthcare. It’s about paying car insurance, school and everyday living expenses.”
Coverage is expected to begin on Jan. 1, 2014for those who have enrolled. The last day for open enrollment is March 31.
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