After President Obama called Generation Opportunity’s effort to educate Millennials about ObamaCare and its impact on their lives “bizarre,” the group’s Corie Whalen reacted. Barry Smith of Carolina Journal reports on the verbal tug-of-war between the White House and the 20-somethings.

“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.”