News & Politics
Young Invincibles Want Health Care, Too
The 13 million uninsured twentysomethings who need regular access to doctors.
If you go to a health care town hall meeting, expect to see a lot of patriotic T-shirts and “Proud Grandma of ...” tote bags. Don’t expect to see anything from Forever 21. There are some notable exceptions, but generally speaking, town-hallers are old. Ask one of these senior citizens why the under-60 set is absent, and you’ll probably be told that it’s because young people just don’t care about the country. They really don’t even care about themselves; after all, 27 percent of them are uninsured! In July, Mark Steyn of the National Review articulated why most people believe young Americans don’t have health insurance: “[T]hey’re 22 and [they think they’re] immortal and life’s a party.”
Steyn is taking a cue from health industry parlance, in which 18- to 29-year-olds are known as “young invincibles.” But not all of the 13 million young adults who are uninsured eschew coverage because they’re more wrapped up in hitting the bars than hitting the doctor’s office. Many of them aren’t insured because they don’t qualify for employer-based plans: They’re interning, working part-time, or working full-time at small companies, and they can’t afford individual insurance. But they’re uncomfortably aware that if they encounter health problems, the party’s over.
“The term young invincibles betrays an arrogance on behalf of young people that most people don’t really feel,” says Julia Smith, a founding member of the Young Invincibles, a coalition trying to inject younger voices into the health care reform debate. “All young people want insurance and know someone who’s paid the price” for being uninsured, Smith adds. The group’s website includes a Town Hall Survival Guide for young people who are willing to venture into town halls and pipe up among the senior citizens.
Young women are especially vulnerable to gaps in coverage. Even healthy women need regular access to health services for gynecological visits and contraceptives. A 26-year-old without insurance could find herself paying $800 a year or more for nothing more than an annual gyno exam, some standard lab work, and a prescription for the pill. If her nonprofit job pays $20,000 a year, $800 is a big chunk of change—maybe big enough to make her rethink that annual exam.
Many young people do skimp on care because it’s too costly. Fifteen percent of 18- to 29-year-olds haven’t gotten their teeth cleaned in the last year because they just can’t afford it. Seventeen percent went without needed medical services (prescriptions, doctors' visits, glasses, or mental health care) because they couldn’t pay for them. And young people know that if they get really sick or seriously injured, they’ll be financially ruined. “It’s almost become a joke,” Smith said. “When you’re going out to play pick-up soccer or Frisbee, it’s like, ‘Better not break a leg.’”
For Erin, 25, it was a cold, not a broken bone, that almost triggered her financial downfall. Two years ago, she came down with what she thought was "a little bit of a cold." Then she woke up in the hospital. According to doctors, she had called 911 and said she felt feverish and was having trouble thinking straight. When paramedics arrived, her temperature had skyrocketed, and she was in an “altered mental state.” She remembers none of this. She does remember being diagnosed with a blood infection, being released from the hospital after six days–and then returning within six hours. She had a severe reaction to one of her medications, which kept her in the hospital for another six days and left her with debilitating nerve damage.
As Erin started the recovery process—going to physical therapy, tracking down specialists who could help her—she realized that getting better wasn't going to be her only challenge. Getting her care paid for was a constant battle—one that she's still fighting. "It's been almost two years since my hospitalization and I'm still getting bills from it," Erin said. She's on the phone with her insurance company at least once a week. "I know that every time I go to the doctor, I'm going to have to spend an hour with the doctor and about two hours on the phone with the insurance company."
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Comments
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Young Invincibles
By: Xando | Mon, 09/21/2009 - 12:38
You know, I'd like a Porsche.
I just don't want to pay for it.
Which is the crux of the whole debate. That $800/year for gynecology? That's $15/week, probably far less than our 'young invincible' spends on shoes or other similar luxuries.
In any scheme of universal health care, its the young who end up shouldering the burden of payments. Now, if the young can afford to subsidize a massive, cover-everyone bureaucracy, why can't they afford paying for doctor's appointments out of their own pocket?
Easy: it's not that they can't pay. It's that they don't want to, and won't, unless forced.
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هل انت من هواة المنتديات والمشاركة فى المنتديات شاركنا التميز فى منتدي منتديات بنات مصر
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تحميل صور
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صور
حمل صورك فى احلى مركز تحميل صور يمكنك تحميل 5 صور فى مره واحده
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شات ودردشة نسيتك , شات سعودي , دردشة سعودية , موقع شات شات شات نسيتك شات سعودي دردشة شات كتابى سعودي دردشة كتابية شات كتابي احلي شات كتابي سعودي في موقع نسيتك دوت كوم ادخل وتمتع بالشات شات سعودي
thank u my dear دليل مواقع
By: haytham | Wed, 09/16/2009 - 10:40
thank u my dear
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دليل مواقع - دليل مواقع
مرحبا بكلم فى موقع العاب بنات مصر العاب للبنات فقط جديده , العاب بنات , العاب تلبيس , العاب تلوين , العاب باربي , العاب طبخ , العاب سيارات
العاب
games , free games , on line games , game , girl games
games
العاب بنات جديده العاب للبنات متجدده بشكل يومي وحصريه
العاب بنات
ان كنتى تبحثي عن العاب بنات جديده ومنوعه بشكل يومي فيمكنك دخول موقع العاب بنات مصر
العاب بنات جديدة
هل انت من هواة المنتديات والمشاركة فى المنتديات شاركنا التميز فى منتدي منتديات بنات مصر
منتديات
تعرف على بنات مصر فى منتديات بنات مصر
بنات مصر
بنات
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منتدي
حمل صورك فى مركز تحميل صور بنات مصر
تحميل صور
صور رومانسية , صور حب , صور بنات مصر , صور بنات جديده ,
msryat
صور
حمل صورك فى احلى مركز تحميل صور يمكنك تحميل 5 صور فى مره واحده
مركز تحميل
دردشة مصرية , تعارف فى احلي دردشة مصريه
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احلي موقع دردشة , دردشة مصرية , دردشة للبنات
دردشة
شات بنات دردشة بنات شات للبنات فقط
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شات بنات مصر
شات بنات مصر
شات ودردشة نسيتك , شات سعودي , دردشة سعودية , موقع شات شات شات نسيتك شات سعودي دردشة شات كتابى سعودي دردشة كتابية شات كتابي احلي شات كتابي سعودي في موقع نسيتك دوت كوم ادخل وتمتع بالشات شات سعودي
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Short Sighted
By: claireific | Fri, 09/04/2009 - 15:51
What's so incredibly short-sighted and dare I say stupid about the idea of "young invincibles" is that it assumes that your health only fails you when you're old and myopic, teetering kyphotically around on your bunions to retrieve the easy-open jar of stool softener. What about ACUTE conditions? I'm 25 and indeed, I'm in general good health. But a few months ago I had a case of pneumonia. I would have been in serious trouble if I hadn't had access to a doctor, a chest x-ray, and antibiotics.
I was uninsured...
By: Shana | Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:25
And now I have a gigantic crescent scar on my thumb because of that. I passed on the insrance at my second job when I was twenty three because I wanted to be able to pay rent. One day washing dishes I badly hirt myself and decided not to go to the emergency room because I was uninsured and certainly could not afford to pay out of pocket. Thankfully I had insurance with my job before that one and I made sure to go to the doctor for everything possible just in case and besides I did not have insurance before that job. On top of that, I did not go to te dentist for over eight years because I had no dental. Thank god when I finally could afford dental nothing was horribly wrong with my teeth. Once again, I have no dental because I am out of work and my husband and I decided that we should spend the money on dental for our son instead of me. I am gad to have regular health insurance now, because I am now suffering horrible smallpox level hives from having an allergic reaction to the antibiotics I had to take for the even more painful mastitis. I love my country and very much care about my health, even more so now that I have a child. All those people at those townhall meetings need to get their heads out of their asses and read a bit instead of just believing what some random pundit tells them.
some of us are still job hunting
By: asha | Tue, 09/01/2009 - 08:47
@dmbream
I have the cheapest health insurance I could get through ehealthinsurance. It's $150 (up from $130), and it only covers inpatient hospital care if I have an emergency. No doctors visits, no prescriptions, no outpatient hospital visits. Everything else was at least $300, and I'm a healthy, 27 year old with no pre-existing conditions.
I also have Medicaid through Planned Parenthood for gyno visits and birth control, because I'm still job hunting and on unemployment from my temp agency. A 25-year old friend of mine was denied health insurance from the agency she's been under her entire life (through her parents), for no apparent reason. We decided it must be because she has pre-existing conditions: asthma, and allergies
The hypocrisy of those on government health care who show up at town hall meetings to argue against changing the system and the arrogance with which they say we (20-somethings) think we're invincible and don't want health insurance angers me. Does anyone remember what it was like to be young and unemployed, or newly employed and replaceable? It's frightening. It certainly doesn't feel like invincibility.
Some of us really are quite poor.
By: nick | Tue, 09/01/2009 - 02:18
I'm an uninsured 20-something. I'm in college at a public university studying the physical sciences. The only reason I am able to attend is because I receive a generous grant based on academic achievement and need that covers the entirety of my tuition. I manage to live without any school loans because I work all year to support myself, but I am well below the federal poverty guidelines. I have never been to a doctor in my life because I cannot afford it. I am relatively healthy, except for a couple of minor chronic health conditions, one physical and one mental. If I were to get in an accident, I would have no way to pay for it. If I managed to get care, I would be completely ruined financially.