Affordable Care Act Helps One Million Young Adults Gain Health Insurance Coverage

Congressman Charles Rangel's office has announced new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing that the Affordable Care Act has led to an additional one million young adults gaining health insurance. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) found a 3.5 percentage point increase in health insurance coverage among adults aged 19-25 in the first quarter of 2011, representing approximately 1 million additional young adults with insurance coverage compared to a year ago. The Affordable Care Act's Patient's Bill of Rights allows young adults to stay on their parents' plans until age 26 and prohibits insurers from dropping people from coverage when they get sick or denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.

Key Takeaways:

• The Affordable Care Act has helped one million additional young adults to get health insurance, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
• The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) found a 3.5 percentage point increase in health insurance coverage among adults aged 19-25 in the first quarter of 2011, representing approximately 1 million additional young adults with insurance coverage.
• The Patient's Bill of Rights in the Affordable Care Act allows most young adults to remain on their parents' health plan until age 26.
• The provision of the Affordable Care Act that allows children up to the age of 26 to remain on their parents' plans appears to have an immediate effect on the number of Americans who report they have health insurance, according to a Gallup survey.
• The Affordable Care Act has placed Americans and their families back in charge of their health care, as per Congressman Charles Rangel's statement.
• House Republicans voted unanimously on January 19, 2011, to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would leave one million young adults without insurance and increase costs for millions on Medicare.
• Repealing the Affordable Care Act would also leave 10 million people in New York vulnerable to lifetime limits on coverage.

Statistics:

• 3.5 percentage point increase in health insurance coverage among adults aged 19-25 in the first quarter of 2011.
• Approximately 1 million additional young adults with insurance coverage compared to a year ago.
• 28% of adults aged 18-25 were uninsured last fall, compared to 24.2% this summer.
• 4 percentage point decrease in the percentage of 18- to 25-year-olds who report being uninsured since the Affordable Care Act provision allowing children up to age 26 to remain on parents' plans went into effect in September 2010.
• One million young adults with health insurance coverage added as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

Sources:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
• Gallup survey
• Office of Congressman Charles B. Rangel