Insuring Younger Adults Through the ACA’s Marketplaces: Options to Expand Enrollment
<p>Whether or not the Affordable Care Act is repealed, having young, healthier adults participate in the individual health insurance market in large numbers remains critical to achieving affordable premiums. This is particularly true if policymakers wish to retain reforms such as the ban on denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions. </p><p>In a new <em>To the Point</em> post, Evan Saltzman and Christine Eibner of the RAND Corporation examine two approaches proposed to encourage young adult enrollment in the context of the ACA: charging older people more relative to younger people, and enhancing premium tax credits for young adults. </p>
<p>Their analysis finds both proposals would have similar effects on total coverage, but allowing insurers to charge older people more would significantly increase older adults’ premiums and entail greater federal spending.</p>