If the United States has a health-insurance crisis, its youth is facing a calamity. Roughly one in three young adults, 19 to 29, lack coverage because they finished going to school or because they’re just too old to stay under Mom and Dad’s plan. That’s more than double the rate of everybody else, reports the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that funds research on health issues. Most family plans drop kids when they turn 18 if they’re not full-time students, and when they are 21 or 22 whether they are in school or not. And many new high-school grads and college grads can’t find jobs that offer health-insurance benefits. But there are ways to find coverage:
COBRA. In 1986, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act mandated that young adults who outgrow their parents’ plans be allowed to buy up to three years of continuing coverage. This works best for those who have pre-existing health conditions; as long as they pay their bills, the coverage continues. But it isn’t cheap. Mike Mann, a New Orleans insurance agent, looked into this for his son, Michael, and found the policy would cost $300 a month.
Short-term policies. Instead, Mann opted for a short-term policy for his son, a good option for a young person who is healthy and expects to need only stopgap insurance. These policies are sold nationally. For $156 Mann bought Michael a two-month policy with a $250 deductible, a 20 percent copay up to $5,000 and a $2 million cap.
Buy catastrophic coverage. If you expect to be on your own for a while and can’t get COBRA, look into buying a full-fledged individual policy, but use high deductibles to keep it affordable. Sweat the small stuff yourself but have a solid plan for that bone-breaking snowboarding disaster. A healthy 25-year-old can buy a Blue Cross preferred-provider plan with a $2,500 deductible and a 20 percent copay for $81 a month, reports Mann. Many states have open-enrollment periods once or twice a year, when insurers have to offer policies to those who would be medically disqualified from these plans (though they don’t promise affordability). Those with pre-existing conditions can contact state insurance regulators to find out if they have access to such a plan.
Randol wasn’t able to afford any of those choices. But he’s graduating in May and job-hunting already. The political-science major isn’t sure exactly where he wants to live, or what career path he wants to pursue. But he knows it’s got to include a health plan. “I’m just hoping I don’t twist an ankle or break a leg before then,” he says. Perhaps Randol should see if the insurance companies themselves are hiring.
