Consultants to Contact
- Allison Musso - Vice President & Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- Bonnie Albritton - Vice President & Principal (Dallas)
- Brian Rankin - Vice President & Principal (Washington, D.C.)
- Brian Stentz - Vice President & Principal (Dallas)
- Cabe Chadick - President & Managing Principal (Dallas)
- Chris Merkel - Senior Vice President & Principal (Kansas City)
- David Dillon - Senior Vice President & Principal (Dallas)
- Daniel Moore - Vice President & Senior Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- David Palmer - Vice President & Principal (Baltimore)
- Glenn A. Tobleman - Executive Vice President & Principal (Dallas)
- Heather Robinson - Senior Consultant & Director - Underwriting (Kansas City)
- Jamie Fender - Vice President & Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- Jason Dunavin - Vice President & Senior Consulting Actuary (Kansas City)
- Jeffrey D. Lee - Vice President & Consulting Actuary (Kansas City)
- Josh Hammerquist - Vice President & Principal (Dallas)
- Jing Qian - Vice President & Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- Jacqueline Lee - Vice President & Principal (Dallas)
- Kevin Ruggeberg - Vice President & Senior Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- Kim Shores - Vice President & Principal (Kansas City)
- Muhammed Gulen - Vice President & Legal Consultant (Dallas)
- Moshe Nelkin - Senior Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- Mark Stukowski - Vice President & Principal (Denver)
- Patrick Glenn - Vice President & Principal (Kansas City)
- Robert Dorman - Vice President & Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- Traci Hughes - Vice President & Senior Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- Tom Roberts - Vice President & Consulting Actuary (Dallas)
- Vickie Goodman - Vice President & Director - Compliance (Kansas City)
Testimonial
The Affordable Care Act's coverage mandate goes into effect at the start of next year. Because of this looming date, many are now turning their attention to young people's reaction to the idea that they have to carry insurance policies, which most do not currently have.
It has been widely acknowledged that young people could be a key to the successful operation of the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges. The main reason for this perception is that younger people will help subsidize higher costs, making policies less expensive for people older than them. Now, though, the question is whether they will actually enroll in these marketplaces, according to a report from CNBC.
Recent research suggests that about 20 percent of people younger than 30 years old with full-time jobs did not receive health insurance, compared with 8.2 percent of people in their 50s with similar work situations. Part of this disparity is that those under the age of 26 are able to be covered by their parents' plans under the ACA, but that still leaves millions uninsured after that point, the report said.
In all, the Obama administration is on record as hoping that about 2.7 million young people sign up for state or federal health insurance exchanges, as they may serve to make coverage more affordable for others. Meanwhile, they would also be eligible for tax credits for those making as much as $45,000 per year, or about 400 percent of the federal poverty line
Some speculate that rather than take on even relatively low-cost plans, young people might instead opt to pay the fine that comes with not being covered at all, the report said. Where the former could cost upwards of thousands of dollars annually, estimates show that the fines may as low as $95 in some cases, and those with already-tight budgets due to constrained incomes could simply opt to pay that fine and continue to go without coverage altogether. In many cases, these people are generally young and healthy, and face little reason to seek any sort of healthcare over the course of a given year.
For these reasons, companies that will have to become ACA-compliant by the start of next year, and which employ a large number of young workers, may want to think carefully about the offerings they extend to workers as a means of striking a balance between cost and need.