Young Adults Make Gains in Health Insurance Coverage

Dear Mr. Feyer,

In “Young Adults Make Gains in Health Insurance Coverage,” Mr. Sack writes that there were 900,000 fewer uninsured 19-to-25 year-olds in the first quarter of 2011 than in 2010. Although the number of new enrollees under dependent coverage fell short of the 1.2 million 19-to-25 year olds estimated by the Health and Human Services, Mrs. Sibelius declared, “The Affordable Care Act is working.”

To be fair, better access to high quality and preventive care should lead to a healthier population. Expanding coverage to 19-to-25 year-olds, many of whom are healthy, should also help spread the share of health care costs generated by the sickest people.

But children of parents whose plans do not offer dependent coverage are still left uninsured. So are children of dependents. Until coverage is expanded to those who stand to benefit the most, Mrs. Sibelius cannot truly say that the Affordable Care Act is working.

Sincerely,

Zeyu Xu

Berkeley, CA