Young adults don't welcome health insurance mandate

Young people who don't view health insurance as a priority are wary of health-overhaul legislation now in Congress that would require them to buy it or face a penalty. For instance, "Poor and bludgeoned by debt accrued over four years of college - but otherwise healthy - medical insurance just isn't in the cards for aspiring-artist Joanna Zobjeck," the Oshkosh (Wis.) Northwestern reports.

The bill requires insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions, bans them from adjusting prices based on health factors or gender, and limits the amount plans can charge older people - all provisions that will cost insurers. "Young adults are the balance to the new rule, which also forces those least likely to need medical care to participate in a health plan in order to keep prices from inflating" (Rodewald, 11/11).