Since the ACA was announced in 2008 one of the great questions that kept popping up was would enough young people sign up? The ACA needs young “healthy” people to sign up to offset some of the costs of older more medically needy folks. Otherwise if they do not sign up rates will increasingly skyrocket. An analogy is that lets look at car insurance and tell a carrier they must take every person who has had five accidents in a year and that same driver with a perfect record and a new car well he has to pay the same..
What has the data told us about young people signing up? According to Evan Tunis, Owner of Florida Healthcare Insurance, young people who don’t qualify for subsidies are staying away in droves. “When I encounter a younger person under 30 they are eager to get a policy however when I advise them on the premium they say thanks but no thanks. It is only those who are getting substantial subsidies that are signing up. More so young people are getting less of a subsidy then older folks with the same income.”
If this trend continues carriers will be forced to reconsider if they want to be apart of the Federal Exchange or not. Carriers such as United Healthcare and Aetna in most states currently have already said we’ll maybe see about 2015 or 2016.
If there are any questions please call Evan Tunis of Florida Healthcare Insurance at 561-637-8162.
