HHS reports 3.1 million young adults gained coverage under health law

The law's provision requiring that insurers allow many adults under the age of 26 to stay on their parents' plans is popular.

The Associated Press: Officials: 3.1M Young Adults In US Gain Coverage
U.S. health officials say the number of young adults with medical coverage grew by more than 3 million since the new health care overhaul took effect. The Affordable Care Act mandates that insurers allow young adults to remain on their parents' plans until they turn 26, even if they move away from home or graduate from school. About 64 percent of adults ages 19 to 25 had insurance when the policy took effect in 2010 (Stobbe, 6/20).

Kaiser Health News: Obama Administration Finds 3.1 Million Young Adults Gained Coverage Under Law
More than 3 million young adults have gained insurance coverage under the health law, according to the latest government estimate. Obama administration officials touted the benefit Tuesday as an example of how the law is making a difference (Torres, 6/19).

Boston Globe: Affordable Care Act Leads To 3.1 Million Young Adults Gaining Health Coverage
The law requires insurers to allow young adults to remain on their parents' family plans until they turn 26, even after moving away from home or graduating from college. As a result, the proportion of insured adults ages 19 through 25 rose to nearly 75 percent, up from 64 percent prior to the provision taking effect in September 2010 (Jan, 6/19).

Politico Pro: HHS Discounts Insurers' Coverage Promises
The report comes about a week after three major insurers promised to keep some ACA provisions --including dependent coverage -- no matter what the Supreme Court does to the law. But an HHS official offered a subtle reminder that the insurers' promise is nothing more than that. And not all insurers have promised to follow that policy. "The additional 3.1 million young adults with coverage now have valuable protection for their finances and health, and only a law can guarantee those protections," said Richard Kronick, HHS deputy assistant secretary for health policy, on a media conference call (Millman, 6/19).

The Hill: HHS: 3 Million Young Adults Gained Coverage Under Health Care Law
HHS touted that popular benefit Tuesday amid deep uncertainty about the fate of the health law and questions about which parts Republicans would try to preserve. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by the end of next week that could strike down all or part of the law. Republicans have vowed to repeal the entire law if the court only strikes down part of it, but they're divided over which parts to replace. ... Adding more young people to the insurance pool is popular in part because it helps lower premiums for everyone. Young people often go without insurance because they're healthy and don't think they will need it (Baker, 6/19).

Other data show that many Americans still are without coverage --

HealthDay News/Philadelphia Inquirer: More Than 46 Million Americans Uninsured In 2011: Report
A new government report finds that 46.3 million Americans went without health insurance in 2011, and more than 34 million of them had already been uninsured for more than a year. The report, released Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), draws on data from more than 100,000 people questioned as part of the annual National Health Interview Survey. Overall, nearly one in five Americans (19.2 percent) went without health care coverage during at least part of 2011, the NCHS reports (Mundell, 6/19).