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Passing the
Buck to Mom and Dad
New York Times
Editorial
September 27, 2006
Many middle-class young adults are staying on
their parents’ health insurance long after college these days.
It’s an interesting trend. But in no way is it a solution to the
growing problem of the uninsured. If anything, it is a stopgap
measure that helps the more fortunate while sapping the
political will for sweeping change.
With 47 million Americans uninsured, the nation’s health
system is in crisis. More and more people are seeking treatment
in emergency rooms because they have nowhere else to go. By one
estimate, unpaid hospital bills have reached $45 billion
annually, raising the cost of health insurance by 8.5 percent
for those who are insured.
Among the uninsured are more than a quarter of adults between
ages 18 and 34. As Jennifer Lee reported recently in The Times,
states are responding to the problem with legislation to allow
children to stay on their parents’ health insurance longer. New
Jersey is one of eight states that have passed such a
"piggyback" statute just since 2003.
College graduates in fields like media and computer
technology are at the leading edge of the changing American
economy, where the individual carries the bulk of the risk. For
young American workers, benefits have become negotiable rather
than part of the social contract. Many end up opting out of
health insurance entirely, choosing to wager on their relative
good health to avoid spending the hundreds of dollars a month
that self-insuring can cost.
But the troubled American health-insurance system finds
itself in a vicious circle as a result. The higher premiums
climb (twice as fast as wages this year, according to a new
study), the less likely the young and healthy are to
participate. That, in turn, skews the pool of the insured even
older and more infirm, making coverage still more expensive and
less appealing to those who bet they can do without.
The families that can best afford to take advantage of the
piggyback laws are those that could already pay for separate
coverage anyway. And these laws, by making life easier for those
who have the most political influence and resources, reduce
elected officials’ incentive to do what is really needed and
find a more comprehensive national solution. |
