More Young Adults Covered with Insurance After Obamacare: News of the Day

The proportion of young adults without health insurance has fallen dramatically due to a provision of the Affordable Care Act that allows children to stay on their parents’ family insurance policies until their 26th birthday, according to a new study released Monday.

The report from the Center on Budget Policies and Priorities details how the number of uninsured Americans fell for the first time in four years and suggests that the landmark health reform law signed by President Obama was largely responsible for the gains in health coverage. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control, it shows the largest increase in coverage occurred among young adults who have benefitted from the ACA. From the New York Times:

The share of young adults without health insurance fell by one-sixth in 2011 from the previous year, the largest annual decline for any age group since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began collecting the data in 1997…The share of people ages 19 to 25 who lacked health insurance fell to 27.9 percent, down from 33.9 percent in 2010, or about 1.6 million fewer uninsured people, according to the data from the federal study, known as the National Health Interview Survey. 

This is but the latest indicator that the ACA is having a substantial positive impact on American families. For instance, the law has resulted in billions of dollars in rebates to consumers because of excessive insurance company premiums, lower drug costs for seniors, and preventive services and health screenings with no copay, among other patient protections.

To learn more about how the Affordable Care Act is working for millions of Americans, click here.