On May 21, the Commonwealth Fund released a brief on the impact of the national health care reform law on uninsured young adults.  The brief outlines the law’s provisions that affect young adults and projects their potential impact on reducing the number of uninsured young adults.  The brief projects that the extension of coverage to dependent children up to age 26 that goes into effect on September 23 could result in coverage for 1.2 million young adults, 650,000 of which are uninsured.  The brief also projects that in 2014, when the Medicaid eligibility expansion provision of the law goes into effect, it could result in 7.1 million uninsured young adults obtaining coverage, while the establishment of insurance exchanges and subsidies for low and moderate-income families could result in coverage for six million uninsured young adults. 

From the abstract:

Young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 represent one of the largest seg­ments of the uninsured; approximately 13.7 million were uninsured in 2008. The problem is linked to critical transition points in young adults’ lives: aging off parents’ coverage when they graduate from either high school or college, and losing eligibility for public programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program when they turn 19. Health reform, however, has the potential to cover millions of uninsured young people. This issue brief describes critical provisions in the new law that will help, including the ability to enroll in a parent’s health plan up to age 26 beginning in September 2010; sig­nificant expansion in eligibility for Medicaid, beginning in 2014; and the creation of state or regional health insurance exchanges with subsidized private insurance for people with low and moderate incomes, also beginning in 2014.

Full report:  Rite of Passage: Young Adults and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PDF | 2.32 MB)

The Commonwealth Fund. (2010). Rite of passage: young adults and the affordable care act of 2010. Collins, S.R. and Nicholson, J.L.