Obamacare Supporters and Opponents Court Millennials | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

    Fiscal health of insurance law relies on young people enrolling

    RALEIGH     A rhetorical battle over whether young adults should sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act reached the White House last week, when President Obama called a conservative group's efforts to inform so-called millennials about alternatives to the health care law "bizarre."

    At a Dec. 4 White House "youth summit" hosting more than 150 activists, Obama criticized the group Generation Opportunity, which has been using social media and advertising campaigns encouraging college students and other young adults to eschew enrolling in an Obamacare exchange and consider get insurance from other private plans, including high-deductible, catastrophic coverage.

    "Believe it or not, there are actually organizations that are out there working to convince young people not to get insurance," Obama said. "Now think about that. That's a really bizarre way to spend your money, to try to convince people not to get health insurance, not to get free preventive care, not to make sure that they're able to survive an accident or an illness."

    Corie Whalen, a spokeswoman for Generation Opportunity, took issue with the president's message. "There are still options on the private market" for young adults, Whalen said, calling Obamacare "generational theft. ... Obamacare is more expensive for young people because the government is trying to steal from us."

    The youth summit took place on the date Harvard University's Institute of Politics released a survey showing millennials souring on both the president and his signature health care law. A mere 41 percent of the 2,089 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed approved of Obama, with 54 percent disapproving, by far the lowest ratings of his presidency among this group. Only 38 percent of millennials approved of Obamacare; 56 percent disapproved. And fewer than 30 percent of those surveyed who did not have health insurance coverage planned to enroll in Obamacare.

    Whalen said Obamacare supporters were trying to entice younger people, who generally are healthier than older adults, to sign up for the federal program to subsidize others. The higher insurance premiums for younger people in Obamacare programs "doesn't account for their actual risk," Whalen said. A John Locke Foundation analysis of premiums charged by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina found premiums on the individual market for 2014 rising by 81 percent for 27-year-olds and 79 percent for 40-year-olds over their current levels. The analysis, using data compiled by the Manhattan Instititute, did not factor in federal subsidies, which vary with the policyholder's income.

    "Even in the best-case scenarios, plans are going to be more expensive, especially for young people," Whalen said. She added that there are still some deals out there. "We don't have to further subsidize our own demise," she said."

    Whalen suggested going to optout.org or looking at websites such as ehealthinsurance.com to shop for plans. She said younger adults might find cheaper plans, such as catastrophic plans. However, they're likely to incur a federal insurance penalty or tax because plans outside the exchanges may not cover all of the "essential benefits" that are required under the new law.

    "But for a lot of young people, [private plans] may actually be a better financial deal," Whalen said.

    Meantime, liberal advocates of the federal health care law also have been rallying support from young adults. In November, N.C. Public Interest Research Group, joined by Planned Parenthood and Action NC, organized an event on the N.C. State University campus urging students to sign up, even though the Healthcare.gov enrollment website was balky.

    "We know there have been website glitches, and it's normal for a rollout this big to have bumps, especially when you've got millions of people checking out the website to find their options," said Kalila Zunes-Wolfe, a program associate for NC PIRG. "Our advice to students and other consumers is to keep trying, and remember that you have time."

    Zunes-Wolfe noted that students would have until the middle of December to sign up for coverage that will take effect Jan. 1, 2014. Enrollment will be open through March, she said.

    Emily Callen, field coordinator at Planned Parenthood Health Systems, noted that millions of people would be able to get help paying for health insurance under the federal healthcare law.

    "All of these new health insurance plans will include coverage for things like birth control and immunizations with no co-pay," Callen said. "Once young people are in a plan, we will pay nothing for these services." She also noted that the new law makes it illegal to charge women more than men for health coverage.

    Denise Gersh, a freshman at N.C. State and an intern for NC PIRG, urged students to consider their options.

    "A lot of us are going to have to leave our parents' plan when we're 26, or get off the student plan when we graduate," Gersh said.

    Kevin Rogers of the advocacy group Action NC urged students to stay on their parents' plans or get subsidized coverage once they got their first job.