Writing in The Wall Street Journal, millennial David Barnes hones in on stats that paint a grim picture on the youth’s involvement in Obamacare.
Since ObamaCare’s implementation three years ago, the percentage of enrollees under 34 has remained steady every year at about 28%. According to the Census, some 16% of Americans between 25 and 34 have opted to remain uninsured …
But without our [young people’s] premiums, health insurers can’t turn the profit they were counting on. Their only options are to raise premiums on everyone else or abandon the ObamaCare exchanges. That’s why premiums are skyrocketing almost everywhere and why more than 40 insurers have abandoned the law in the past two years.
Now here’s where it gets interesting. The Obama administration is launching a new campaign to target young people and convince them to unroll, using movie stars and platitudes and the hashtag #HealthyAdulting.
How also are they going to target young people? Apparently by violating their privacy rights and abusing the IRS.
“Then there’s the administration’s June announcement that it would use confidential taxpayer information to target young Americans who haven’t signed up. The details haven’t been released, but it’s hard to see how this doesn’t cross an ethical line. Our personal information at the Internal Revenue Service is supposed to be private,” Barnes writes.
In the end, the outreach will likely still fail, predicts Barnes, the policy director of Generation Opportunity:
Either way, the White House is doomed to fail. Young Americans are avoiding ObamaCare because it isn’t a good deal for us.
Last week I visited Healthcare.gov to scout out the most-affordable health-insurance plans I could buy for next year. In Arlington, Va., where I live and work, the cheapest option is $200 a month with a $6,850 deductible. Across the Potomac in D.C., the premiums are slightly cheaper but the deductible is still sky-high.
My experience isn’t unique. ObamaCare is plainly unaffordable for many young Americans. We’re at the start of our careers—and the bottom of the income ladder—so paying so much for something we likely won’t use makes little sense. The IRS penalty of $695 or 2.5% of our income is often cheap by comparison. We may be young, but we can do the math.
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