I think health care should be more affordable for people my age. I am 19 years old, and health care is simply too expensive! It is said that people my age spend more time in the emergency room than any other age below 75. Forbes.com said that an 18 year old may go to the doctor 2 or 3 times a year, costing about $600. If they were to get health insurance, it would cost them over $1000 a year. It would be counterproductive for someone to spend more on health insurance than the actual cost of their bills. It’s like filling your gas tank and never driving your car- it doesn’t make sense! Older people have no problem paying more, because their medical bills cost more.
Finding affordable health insurance will always be difficult. Health care needs to be more affordable. Many students or young adults are working jobs that do not provide health care: either that is the only job available or they are working their way through college, like I am. This means that they must purchase individual coverage, which is too expensive for a poor college kid. When I graduate college, I will be worried about repaying student loans, and I don’t want to worry about the cost of insurance. If I get injured or sick, what am I going to do?
As we transition from child to adult, we lose both employer-sponsored insurance and Medicaid coverage. As we move into our late 20’s we regain ESI coverage, which brings down uninsured rates. It appears that almost 2 million, fewer than 1 in 5, uninsured young adults are full-time students. I am a full-time student, and am half as likely as non-students to lack insurance coverage. I believe that health insurance should be more affordable for myself and the people who are in the hospital the most.
By: Lauren Keyser