Can Exchange Navigators Get the Crucial Adult Young Men Demographic to Enroll?
It is true that Obamacare is one of the most extensive health reforms to hit the country, and most authorities and experts are interpreting its different aspects in a new light every day. If there is one aspect that everyone seems to fully agree with, it is the fact that the enrollment of young adults, especially males, is crucial for the success of Obamacare.
Enrollment of adult males will add a low risk,
healthy demographic to the health insurance exchanges and will affect a balance in premium costs, which is one of the elementary reasons for implementing the PPACA.
To control the costs for insurers and customers both, officials estimate that to balance out the enrollment of older, sicker individuals, they need to enroll about 2.7 million individuals who belong to the age group of 18 to 35. However, recent surveys and statistics reveal that this could be a tough nut to crack. Studies and surveys have shown that young, healthy males are either unaware of the upcoming Obamacare mandates of enrollment or are unwilling to shell their hard earned money for service that they would not use in the near future.
In such circumstances, the role of exchange navigators will be crucial. A poll conducted among 18 to 34 year old individuals revealed that 36% of the respondents were not fully aware about the Obamacare act and associated factors. Only 10% of the respondents stated that they were completely familiar with the program and did not have any qualms in enrolling. It seems that health insurance exchange navigators will be instrumental in disseminating knowledge about the various aspects of PPACA and educating this crucial demographic and guiding them towards buying health insurance.
Another factor that will kick in would be the unwillingness of young, healthy adults. Since health insurance for these adults will become comparatively costlier when the law kicks in, not many young adults would be willing to buy health insurance. This would be especially true for successful young consumers who would be having higher paychecks. Higher annual incomes would mean no subsidies, translating to even higher costs for health insurance.
To tackle the above problems, the insurance exchange navigators will have to create a compelling case of these adults and coerce them into buying health insurance. The health insurance exchange navigator program has collected some details and statistics that might help exchange navigators achieve their target easily. According to the collected data, 66% of the respondents are concerned about paying medical bills in the wake of a serious injury\illness. 87% of the young adult demographic feels that getting health insurance is personally important.
In the end, it will boil down to one core decision, would young adults buy health insurance because they consider it worth their money. If these adults don’t feel that at the basest level, no training in the exchange navigator program can prepare the officials to convince them otherwise.
