ProPublica profiles a "young invincible" and reports on what a health care overhaul might mean for him.
"Neil Thurgood, 26, is part of the group dubbed 'Young Invincibles' during the current health care debate. Like many young Americans, he went without health insurance for a few years after college because he couldn't afford it. Now he's left with thousands of dollars of debt that he incurred when he got unexpectedly sick." Health reform would give people like Thurgood "more options for insurance - whether as a dependent on a parent's insurance, Medicaid or as a purchase through an exchange — but one option that will no longer be available is skipping health coverage. For relatively well-off young people, like Thurgood and his wife, health care reform will mean a new health insurance requirement, but not much help affording it" (Shankman and Pierce, 12/22).