(NEW YORK) MintPress – As the Supreme Court nears a decision on the constitutionality of President Obama’s 2010 sweeping healthcare reform law, a new survey shows that young people could be left in dire straits if the justices decide to strike down the Affordable Care Act.
A provision in the law allows young adults, who previously had the country’s highest uninsured rate, to stay on their parents’ private insurance plans through age 26.
According to the report by the Commonwealth Fund, which analyzes health care issues, in 2011, 13.7 million young adults ages 19 to 25 stayed on or joined their parents’ health plans, including 6.6 million who would likely not have been able to do so before the law was passed because they were not in college full time or had already graduated.
Most insurance plans already allowed full-time college students to stay on their parents’ plans.
The benefit is one of the most popular parts of the law as young adults face a U.S. labor market that is making it harder to find work and gain health coverage on the job.
Unemployment among 16 to 24 years olds was 16.1 percent in May, almost double the 8.2 percent rate for the country as a whole, according to government data.
“The economy is absolutely a factor in both the large number of adults who are without health insurance and likely the number coming onto their parents’ policies,” said Commonwealth Fund Vice President Sara Collins. The law “came at a really good time for young adults, in terms of the poor job market.”
Coverage gap
At the same time, according to the survey, problems with debt and medical bills remain critical for young people.
It found that cost, not a “young invincible” belief that they didn’t need insurance, was still an obstacle to getting coverage.
“While the Affordable Care Act has already provided a new source of coverage for millions of young adults at risk of being uninsured, more help is needed for those left behind,” said Collins.
The survey found that nearly 2 in 5 young adults ages 19 to 29 reported a gap in health insurance in 2011, and 41 percent delayed getting needed medical care.
Millions of young adults are also struggling with debt they incurred to get medical care, with one-fifth reporting they are having to pay off medical bills over time.
More than a quarter of those without insurance said they had been contacted by a debt collection agency over unpaid medical bills.
Those without insurance are also disproportionately low income, with 70 percent of young people who make less than $29,726 a year – 133 percent of the federal poverty level – reporting that they had lacked insurance at some point in the previous year.
While 69 percent of young adults in families making more than four times the poverty level stayed on or joined their parents’ health plans, just 17 percent from families making less than 133 percent of the poverty line did so, according to the survey.
Political football
The government estimates the requirement to allow young people on parental plans increased health insurance premiums by less than 1 percent.
But Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who opposes the health law, said in a commentary on the Joint Economic Committee’s website that the increase is probably as much as 3 percent.
Still, Representative Phil Gingrey from Georgia, who is the head of a caucus of 21 Republican legislators with medical backgrounds, said this week that no matter what the Supreme Court rules, he will try to preserve the coverage for young adults, calling it “a good policy.”
Yet, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pledged to repeal the law if he wins the White House.
If indeed the Affordable Care Act is either dismantled or repealed, young people could lose other provisions due to take effect in 2014, including possible eligibility for Medicaid, tax credits and access to an Affordable Insurance Exchange.
“The law’s major insurance provisions slated for 2014….will provide nearly all young adults across the income spectrum with affordable and comprehensive health plans,” said the Commonwealth Fund’s Collins.
Unless, of course, there is no law.