ACA and Medicaid Expansion Increased Young Adult Insurance Coverage
The uninsured rate for young people aged 19-25 declined from 30 percent down to 16 percent between 2011 and 2018, according to recent research published by Urban Institute. The coverage decline was more dramatic in states that expanded Medicaid during this period, with just 11.3 percent remaining uninsured in 2018 in those states.
Young adults in 2015-2018 were more likely to have received a routine checkup, to have a personal doctor, and to have received a flu shot and were less likely to delay needed care, compared to the 2011-2013 years. Many of the Affordable Care Act's key provisions were enacted between 2013-2016, including Medicaid expansion and the insurance exchanges.
The study's authors lay out policy recommendations that could help further improve access to care for this population, including adopting ACA Medicaid expansion in the 12 remaining states and improving outreach to uninsured young adults through targeted messaging and one-on-one enrollment assistance.
Prior to enactment of the Affordable Care Act, young adults were among the least likely to be insured. For survivors of childhood cancer, the consequences of being uninsured can be particularly devastating. We know from other studies that childhood cancer survivors who are uninsured or underinsured are less likely to receive necessary long-term survivorship care. In fact, one study from 2011-2012 found that half of uninsured childhood cancer survivors didn't even have a primary care provider.