SAFETY NETS AREN'T CRUTCHES:

Young adults aren't sold on health law: Options weighed as plan takes effect (Alice Dembner, July 1, 2007, Boston Globe)

The long-term success of the state's insurance initiative rests in large measure on the response of healthy young people. Without them, the total cost of the program could soar, because those with coverage would be older, sicker, and more likely to require costly services. And people age 19 to 39 make up nearly half of those without insurance -- totaling about 184,000, according to a state survey last year.

But many young people partying and working near the Marketplace on a recent night were not sold on getting insurance. As they smoked and talked outside the area's bars, most of those without insurance said they opposed state-mandated coverage.

Many were worried about how they would pay the premiums. Others said they would not skimp on beer or move to a less expensive apartment to pay for healthcare.

Forlano said he "totally disagrees" with the insurance mandate. Rather than buy coverage, the Cambridge resident said, he would pay the penalty -- $219 next year -- for going uninsured. When the penalty increases in 2009, he said, he may move to New Zealand, where his girlfriend lives. "I can work anywhere," he said.

Most of the young people interviewed were fuzzy on the specifics of the insurance requirement and had not focused on their options for coverage, despite a $3 million advertising campaign by the state agency overseeing the law and additional ad spending by health insurers -- some geared to young adults.

Young people have many options. Comprehensive plans are available to low-income people of all ages for state-subsidized monthly premiums ranging from $0 to $179. Limited coverage plans for 19- to 26-year-olds who do not qualify for subsidies can be purchased for as little as $119 a month in Boston. And other private plans with a variety of coverage options are available starting at about $160 for people age 18 to 39 in the city. Rates are higher in some other locations.

The state does not yet have figures on how many young people have obtained insurance since the law was passed last year.

In a June poll of Massachusetts residents conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and two other organizations, 21 percent of people age 18 to 34 said they knew nothing about the law. After the details were explained, 38 percent of young people said they thought the law would help them.

Health insurance is a waste of money for the young, which is why HSAs make so much sense but have to be universal and mandatory.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 1, 2007 9:01 AM