JLF’s Katherine Restrepo has written frequently about the “young invincibles” and the key role these 20-somethings play in paying the massive costs of ObamaCare. Millions of this demographic must sign up for ObamaCare and pay ridiculously high rates if the government system is to have a prayer of “working.”
Now Carl Schramm of Syracuse University writes here about this key group and why it makes absolutely no sense for them to participate in ObamaCare.
A Manhattan Institute analysis of Health and Human Services numbers notes that a 27-year-old male will pay 99% higher premiums under ObamaCare than he would under previously prevailing market rates. One reason is that the law now limits insurers to charging the sickest seniors no more than three times the amount they charge their youngest customers. Given that 64-year-olds use on average six times as much health care as 19-year-olds, the Affordable Care Act forces young people to pay considerably more than the cost of their own care.
Young men and women who pay a fine instead of buying coverage are not making an irrational choice. They know how little care they need and use. They also may be beginning to understand that the high cost of their plans reflects the redistribution of their wealth to older people and a bunch of mandated services that don’t make sense for them.
The sad irony is that this group voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Obama and other Leftists who continue to support this debacle of a policy. And now these young folks are beginning to find out exactly what their vote means for them.
We must replace ObamaCare with consumer-driven reforms that infuse competition and choice into the insurance and health care delivery system.
