Kaiser Health News reports that the number of young adults, ages 19 to 25, with health insurance coverage has increased over the last two years, but the number of adults generally, ages 19 to 64, with health insurance coverage has decreased.
According to the Commonwealth Fund’s 2012 biennial health insurance survey, 11.7 million young adults (41%) were uninsured in 2012, an improvement of 1.9 million. This improvement is attributed to the federal health care reform law that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plan until age 26. Meanwhile, approximately 84 million adults in total (46%) were uninsured or underinsured in 2012, up from 81 million in 2010. This is related to increasing health care costs and the 2008 economic downturn. The federal health care reform law, major provisions of which take effect January 1, 2014, requires Americans to have health insurance coverage or pay a penalty.
