The Largest Group Of Uninsured Are Young Adults

Health care crisis is a term that none of us like to hear. Looking around however, you can quickly see that the current cost of health insurance well exceeds the means of the average person in the United States. These are not those who are lazy or those who are unemployed, they are very simply the students and working young adults of today and they are by far one of the largest groups living without health insurance.

For those whose employers are either paying only a small portion or shifting the entire burden of health care premiums onto their employees, many are opting out of paying this fairly expensive cost. So many young people are rationalizing that they are healthy and really don't need the insurance coverage. What they aren't considering are those unexpected accidents and illnesses that don't discriminate against age.

Even most employers are having a hard time offering the health care coverage they once included in their benefit package. Some are shifting a part of the cost to the employee while others are completing placing that entire burden on the employee. Those individuals who are being asked to get private insurance are suffering from price shock as they discover how much it cost annually for themselves and their families. Even if they can afford to get coverage, they may be disappointed in knowing the coverage isn't as extensive as they would like.

These groups of individuals are the healthiest of all age groups yet since insurance groups everyone into a pool, the healthy are paying for those who are sick and while the premiums are lower than others, it is still expensive. Without health care coverage, these individuals are likely to ignore routine examinations and may wind up paying for it in the long run. Health is like running a car; it needs to be maintained in order for it to run properly, when neglected functions start to break down.

Eventually, these young people will age. At some point, they may well afford medical insurance but may pose some risks since they didn't take care of themselves by getting the necessary yearly exams and in the long run that affects everyone on the plan. If they maintain no insurance coverage and sometimes critical happens, they will go to the emergency rooms unable to pay their bills and these costs will be absorbed by the American taxpayers.