Young people just aren’t buying it.
Young Americans, almost 20 million uninsured 18-34 year olds, aren’t signing on for affordable health insurance through the health insurance exchanges as hoped.
The administration is expected to report on the number of Americans who have signed up for health insurance on the federal exchange this week. But the estimates aren’t great, and young, healthy people are needed to balance the risk pool.
Cost has been the greatest inhibitor to reducing young adults uninsurance rates.
A recent HHS report states that some young adults eligible for health insurance marketplace could pay $50 or less per month for coverage in 2014.
The Young Invincibles, in collaboration with HHS, has a #GetCovered campaign and just launched a video contest, “Healthy Young Americans Video Contest” to engage this group and get buy-in. The results of the winner will be announced Friday, November 15th.
Will writing in the facts about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act into television plot lines work to get them to enroll? Mediate reported on a $500,000 grant from the California Endowment to the University Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism’s Lear Center’s Hollywood Health & Society to do just that. The Center provides entertainment industry professionals accurate and updated information on health and climate change. This grant will allow them to provide information on the ACA and it’s implementation. The full press release can be found here.
Then there’s the Koch-funded Generation Opportunity, an anti-Obamacare group, reaching out to this age group telling them not to buy health insurance.
Media does have a social impact.
No one thought this would be an impulse buy. Is this procrastination? Hold outs because the penalty in the first year is just $95?
How do we get a Millennial to take action and purchase health insurance?
Beats me.
