NC health insurance enrollments lag for young, healthy people
By John Murawski, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
It's been six years since Beard, a 29-year-old sales clerk at Sorry State Records, had health insurance, a fact attested by the lump of electrical tape holding his eyeglasses together. Beard toils 50-60 hours a week, holding down a second job as a cook at the
Surrounded by vinyl punk rock albums at his sales counter and a pack of Camels bulging from his shirt pocket, Beard said he's still chipping away at a
"Just the way my bills work, I couldn't afford anything else," Beard said. "I didn't really look into it enough to think about planning for it."
With a looming enrollment deadline of Monday for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, it's increasingly evident that the federal insurance program will fall short of enrollment goals in its first year. Most of the nation's uninsured, whom the law was designed to help, will take a pass on health insurance and opt for penalties instead.
Through February, slightly more than 200,000 North Carolinians had selected an individual insurance plan out of an eligible pool exceeding 1 million residents. The number of March enrollments will be released soon.
Indifference, ignorance and financial anxiety are evident among younger and healthier residents on whom the law's success depends. The young are being assiduously courted by
But in
If
This under-representation is worrisome to health reform advocates.
"Let's hope if you're young and healthy you won't have major medical expenses," U.S. Rep.
As enrollments of younger people lag, the state's well-organized networks of community health centers have attracted national attention for their effectiveness in signing up their low-income clients as well as other residents.
Through February, 91 percent of the state's insurance enrollments have qualified for federal subsidies, pushing
The low count of healthy residents on insurance rolls, combined with a high response rate among older residents, has put
The
"We're concerned that we are not getting as many young people into the program as we would like," Fleming said. "We're worried about that trend."
'I feel more secure'
One of the company's new customers is
She has also accumulated a stack of
Jones, who lives in
She is receiving physical therapy and knee injections, and planning a colonoscopy as well as surgery for a benign tumor on her pituitary gland.
"I feel more secure," Jones said. "I notice that the depression has lifted. I had gotten to the point where I just felt hopeless."
The federal law requires most Americans to have health insurance. But since the majority get their coverage through work or through federal health programs --
What's unclear is how many people with individual policies simply migrated to subsidized coverage. Such switching wouldn't have any effect on the state's uninsured rolls.
"The question in the first year is: 'Do we reduce our uninsured rate?' " said
Another wild card is how many enrollees will continue to pay their monthly premiums and how many will drop insurance in the coming months, said
"This is an experiment with no comparison," Taylor said.
What could go wrong?
Among the uninsured is
He's nonchalant about health care costs, even though last year he required an ultrasound to examine the cause of groin pain that could have indicated a hernia or testicular cancer but turned out to be a strained muscle. Palcowski said the
"I don't feel the need for health insurance," he said. "I haven't needed it so long."
Instead, he's saving for a down payment on a house and making car payments on his used Audi A3. His employer offers health coverage, but it would cost Palcowski
"If something medical comes along, I'll deal with it when it happens," he said.
Even as he procrastinates, he acknowledges he should buy coverage because he knows he can't dodge medical expenses forever.
"I probably will hurt myself, and I'd rather not pay everything," Robison said. "Riding a bike, I know something is going to happen."
The Andrewses have priced their insurance options, and she doesn't know where they could come up with the
"We don't know what we're going to do," she said. "We are in our mid-30s and want to start a family at some point, and currently we've had to put our plans on hold."
Her parents have signed up for coverage, Andrews said; meanwhile, she and her husband are stuck paying for medical and dental needs out of pocket whenever necessary.
"I feel like I'm at a point in my life where this is something you have to do," she said. "It takes its toll physically and emotionally."
Murawski: 919-829-8932
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