Health Care

A great new video that the Illinois Caucus on Adolescent Health youth activists created about how young people need accurate access to information about sex and health to protect themselves.

Do you have health care? Have you been able to stay on your parents' health insurance longer? If you say yes then you're one of the 17 million American youth that could lose that if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act, according to a legal brief filed on Thursday.

According to The Hill

"Some 20 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 currently don't have insurance, the group argues. When the full benefits of the law kick in in 2014, about 8 million young adults will qualify for Medicaid and another 9 million will become eligible for federal subsidies to buy private insurance on new state health insurance exchanges.

The group's amicus brief argues that the requirement that everyone have insurance — the crux of the legal challenges against the law — "does not impose a significant burden on young adults."

"On the other hand," the brief argues, "eliminating this and other pillars of the [healthcare reform law] would undermine the regulatory scheme and harm the health and
economic well-being of millions of young Americans by denying them access to affordable"

Court cases against the law have been going back and forth in district courts for the better part of the last year and now the Supremes have said they will decide the fate. It's on the docket for March 26, 27 and 28 and The Hill says "a decision is expected in June, before the 2012 presidential election." Given the Supreme Court's affinity to corporations and the fact that the health care industry and insurance companies are behind the law, you'd think they'd support it, right?

All of you went above and beyond to help Cong. Tammy Baldwin when she announced she was running for the U.S. Senate in the open seat of retiring Sen. Herb Kohl's seat. Those who know Tammy love her - for her progressive values, her steadfast fight, and her down-to-earth nature. So we wanted to highlight something you may not know about Tammy.

When it comes to campaigning in and around Wisconsin, there are few with more experience than Tammy Baldwin. Tammy first ran for office at age 24, rallying her fellow law students at the University of Wisconsin, Madison to turn out for her campaign for Dane County Board of Supervisors. When she first ran for Congress, so many students got out to vote for Tammy that the student polling places ran out of ballots. In her impressive 25 years of public service, the students she represents have been a big part of Tammy’s advocacy. With a district that’s home to not only UW’s flagship campus (Go Badgers!) but six other universities and colleges, Tammy is no stranger to knocking on dormitory doors and she’s a regular figure in each fall's Homecoming Parade.

In the halls of Congress, Tammy remembers the young people who've helped her get along. She recently spoke about the progress we’ve made helping young people who are struggling to start their careers in the difficult economy. Thanks to a measure offered by Tammy to the Affordable Care Act, one million young people were covered by health insurance because they were allowed to stay on their parents health care policies until they turned 26. When we elect leaders who are connected to coping families and understand the hurdles young people face, we amplify young, progressive voices in Congress.

"I fought to allow young people up to age 26 stay on their parents’ health insurance plans because, in today’s economy, finding a job after graduation from high school or college can be challenging,” Baldwin said. “I’m receiving many expressions of gratitude and relief because my suggestion is now law, and young people are able to secure health coverage through their parents’ policies,” she added.

Watch Tammy talk about the addition to the health care reform legislation.

Tammy ran for office at such a young age because she knew she could make a difference. She is still connected to graduating seniors in Madison who are beginning their job searches in the worst economies of their lifetime. Her fight began at 24, but 25 years later she continues working for families, new and old, as they navigate these tough times. This is the kind of connected and compassionate leadership we need more of in the U.S. Senate, and it’s one of the many reasons EMILY's List is standing behind her.

Over the next year, and with our help, Tammy will take her message beyond Madison and southern Wisconsin as she campaigns statewide. She’ll be knocking on doors and telling her story to voters across the state. Tammy’s a hometown girl raised by her mother and grandparents, graduate of Wisconsin’s public schools, the state’s first woman elected to Congress, and the first and only openly gay woman in Congress. We all know why Tammy is the right person for the job, so let’s spread the word about Tammy Baldwin’s history of leadership, her understanding the struggles working families face and commitment to put Americans back to work. Share this blog on Twitter and Facebook and ask your friends to learn more about those elected officials stepping up for young people!

Crossposted from the EMILY's List blog

• Recommendations for when college grads move back into the family home
• Top 10 cities for college grads. This was ranked by Livability.com who focuses on the places in between the big cities.
• When college doesn't go as planned go non-trad says a younger man who had to drop out of college because he couldn't afford the high tuition. Years later when he's going back he discusses what it is to be a non-trad student.
• #1 Wish of College Grads: Health Insurance. I'd also say that another wish is for... I don't know... a job?
  

  "According to a recent eHealthInsurance (EHTH) survey, only 31% of college grads have health insurance coverage through a parent's policy or their own plan paid for by their parents, despite a recent law that gives parents the option to keep kids on their policy until age 26.

  Not all parents are willing to take advantage of the law. Almost 40% of parents surveyed said they won't keep their adult children on their health insurance plans until age 26. Only 43% said they'd be willing to keep adult children under age 26 on their policies if they could do so without additional costs.

  This has led to many recent college grads rethinking their priorities. 93% of those surveyed said they'd be willing to give up dining out, movies, or a trip to Starbucks if it meant they could afford health insurance.

  74% of recent college graduates surveyed also said they'd rather live at home for the first year after college, if it's a choice between having health insurance or living on their own without it. 49%, say they'd take a job they didn't like if it offered health insurance or a retirement account."

• Surviving Home After College. Here are some tips. My personal favorite was don't lounge around the pool all day "try to find some time every day to devote to your job search." Ya think?
• Youth disabilities come from psychological disorders:
  

  "For youth, neuropsychiatric disorders including major depression and alcohol use comprise 45% of the disability burden among young people from 10 to 24 years old, according to a study published online Monday in the Lancet."

• Similarly - Mental Health top health issue for youth:

"Mental health problems are the leading cause of disability among children, teens and young adults worldwide, according to a new study.

Researchers who analyzed global data collected in 2004 found that neuropsychiatric disorders -- including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and alcohol use -- accounted for 45 percent of the disease burden among those 10 to 24 years old.

The next two most common causes of disability among young people were accidental injuries, most often caused by traffic accidents, at 12 percent, and infectious and parasitic diseases at 10 percent."

• Young people saving for pensions too late - says this one. Perhaps its because we have student loan debt and we're afraid the Department of Education will deploy a SWAT team to come in and throw us to the ground... I don't know... I could be wrong...
• Youth attitudes toward the Ryan Medicare cuts. This one I got from Matt Singer at the Bus Project who remarked it was interesting. I think this is a reflection that the people who oppose the Ryan budget are obviously not messaging or even communicating their policies to young voters....

"Awareness is particularly low among younger Americans – fully 41% of adults under 30, and 34% of those ages 30-49, have heard nothing at all about this proposal. And politically, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they have heard a lot about this proposal (26% vs. 16%).

"The lack of awareness goes a long way toward explaining some of the contradictory views many Americans hold on this issue. In particular, people under age 30 are the only major demographic group in which significantly more say they favor (46%) than oppose (28%) this proposed change."

This is a great idea from YDA thanking elected officials for their vote on health care. After the horrible things that happened with people spitting on them and calling them the "n" word and fa**ot, the least we can do is communicate how grateful we are for the dedication to getting this bill past and hopefully start the ball rolling on some day having affordable health care for everyone.

Send them a note saying thanks!

Yesterday Michael Moore appeared on the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer to talk about how we're kind of getting shafted on the health care "compromise" that no republicans will vote for anyway. Among other things he talked about the extent to which the political environment is different because the last time we attempted health care reform an entire generation of kids are now of voting age.

He also specifically pointed out that young people are the ones who are most affected both by HCR but also by the sad and tragic fact that our government isn't doing what we worked so hard to elect them to do.

Begins at about the 9:45 mark in the video below

Talking about Hillary Clinton's attempts at HCR in the 90's:
Moore: "That was like 16 years ago! Sixteen years ago!"

Blitzer: "Well, they're still living that lesson..."

Moore: "Well speaking of living, a lot of people who were involved at that time are no longer with us. You know what happened in that time? A generation of young people have become adults. And they're the force that got Obama elected. You were there in Iowa. It was the young people that were out there pounding on those doors . . "

Blitzer: "You're saying they're gonna sit on their hands this time?"

Moore: "I'm afraid a lot of young people have seen and they've become cynical already and they're not gonna vote."

I really hope this isn't true, because my fear is that it will perpetuate the stereotype that young people don't vote and don't care. It isn't that we don't care, its that we got everyone elected and then most of them screwed us with our pants on. It teaches us the lesson of - why should we participate in a system that continues to ignore us, even when we're promised that we matter.

Other interesting comments in this video are that the insurance companies won't care about paying for pre-existing conditions because they're only being fined $100 a day. Moore says that when it comes down to paying for a $100,000 treatment or surgery that might save your life - or just paying $100 fine when you'll be dead in three months ... they'll opt for the fine.

He also says that when the GOP took over during the Clinton Administration that at the very least the White House had the guys to shut the federal government down by calling the GOP's bluff. He suggests that the Senate let the GOP filibuster all they want and publicly shut down progress and let the American people watch it. I think it'd be nice to see the White House and the Senate develop a little bit of that chutzpah that Moore suggests. The philosophy on The Hill should be "bring it on." We want to keep this majority, I say lets fight for it.

Catherine Rampell, from the New York Times blog Economix, suggests an alternative to the conventional wisdom that youth aren't insured (and don't care about reform) due to their invincibility.

Rampell constructs her argument using some Gallup data released last week. First, she confronts the idea that young people, assumed to be healthier than the rest of the population, would rather risk not buying health insurance, thus leading to higher costs for the rest of the pool. In fact, Rampell finds that young people are actually less willing to take risks than you might think:

Three-quarters of those 18-29 year-olds describing themselves as healthy still purchased health insurance. As Rampell explains, one can dig deeper into this data, inquiring about variables like income. Rampell does that and finds something.

Perhaps people who are likely to have health insurance are also likely to be healthy for an independent reason: It costs money to buy health insurance, and it costs money to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In other words, perhaps it is money, not perceived risk of getting sick, that determines whether young people get insurance.

As it turns out, people who can afford health insurance are much, much more likely to get it:

Among young adults, 86 percent of those in the top third of the income distribution (people earning $48,000 or more annually) have health insurance. In the middle third (those earning between $24,000 and $48,000), 72 percent have health insurance. And in the bottom third (those making less than $24,000), just 58 percent are on a health plan.

It appears to be affordability, not recklessness (or even rational cost-benefit analysis of health risk), that is driving young people away from insurance policies.

Though reporters and pundits might think something is true, that doesn't mean there aren't other unseen or unmentioned possibilities or factors affecting the phenomenon. Thanks to Catherine Rampell for digging deeper.

An interesting blog post at Newsweek's "The Gaggle":

The other issue, I think, is the way health insurance has been sold and positioned. In general, we talk about the outcome of health care reform in two ways: the micro impact on individual citizens and the macro impact on health care costs. Neither has struck a cord with Millenials [sic]. Like I said, the individual impact strikes us as unimpressive. The large-scale economic outcomes take a lot of effort to understand. They seem distant, probably to Millenials [sic] and the rest of the population, and easy to lose sight of in a Twitter-size news cycle.

Instead, the more attractive part of health insurance for Millennials, these poll numbers indicate, is the moral underpinnings of the bill: that all Americans ought to have access to insurance, that this is our responsibility as a nation. While 47 percent of Millennials generally support health care reform, 70 percent support the idea that all Americans should have access to affordable health insurance, the highest number for any demographic. Maybe we’re just young and idealistic, maybe we have genuinely different viewpoints than our parents; either way, that provision really strikes a cord with younger Americans. But the bill has not been sold that way--if it had, perhaps more Millennials would strongly support health care reform instead of the kind of, sort of support we see now.

Yes, the expertise gap is tough for us to navigate. But I think what's worse for youth engagement is the heavy presence of traditional Washington behavior. Untelevised hearings. Deals behind closed doors. Inaccessible jargon. A lack of political courage. All of these elements and more preclude young people from focusing on the moral principle at stake.

We live in the United States -- all of us should should have access to affordable health insurance. But when the discussion is misrepresented, shrouded in Washington-speak and timidity, we lose that right to health care and we (young people) understandably lose patience with the process.

Update -- A friend correctly points out that the gripes here are with the negotiations in the Senate. The House bill treated young people quite well and on par with seniors. My apologies for failing to distinguish.

Original Post:

If one needed proof that the importance of youth has yet to really penetrate the minds of Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill, look no further than the deal cut on health care. Substantively, I'm one of those heretics who thinks that the public option had been so watered down that its removal doesn't condemn the bill. The insurance regulations -- preventing pre-existing condition discrimination and rescission, for example -- and subsidies plus the longer term efforts at cost containment make the bill a big net win for the country.

But as the public option was stripped out, Democrats saw a need to take care of at least one demographic:

Beyond that, the group agreed--contingent upon CBO analysis--to a Medicare buy in.

That buy-in option would initially be made available to some uninsured people aged 55-64 in 2011, three years before the exchanges open.

In other words, young voters got a public option...for their parents.

The fundamental decisions around this legislation shouldn't simply be about constituencies pursuing their own narrow interests. And, even without a public option, the vast, vast majority of young people will be significantly better off with the passage of this bill than they were without.

But it is disappointing that Democrats would turn their back on a generation that placed so much trust in them. Beyond that, it is politically stupid. Democrats are preparing a narrative that won't work to reach one of their biggest target audiences. Given the heavy overlap between all three of the Rising American Electorate constituencies -- youth, unmarried women, and people of color -- the reality is that Democrats are setting themselves up in a less-than-great way politically.

So the question young people may want to ask themselves is, How can we get Democrats to pay attention to our self-interest? We can't even convince them to care about their own.

The Harvard Institute of Politics has released their latest round of youth polling. The numbers are already being headlined that youth still support Barack Obama even as they disapprove of his policy goals. Nowhere is this dynamic more visible than healthcare. Polling this year has repeatedly shown youth to be among the most favorable constituencies for health reform -- no surprise given how many young Americans are uninsured.

Forward Montana, the young voter organization I helped found in 2004, made health care a priority in 2007 after our members and volunteers told us loudly that the issue was a priority for them.

So what happened? The answer, based on the data, is extremely unclear. Despite disapproving of Barack Obama's efforts on health care (44-52), the reality is that young people overwhelmingly support they components of reform:

• 60% favor requiring individuals have health insurance provided low-income Americans receive assistance to help pay for premiums.
• 57% support a public option to compete with private insurance companies.
• 76% want health insurance companies to be required to extend coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions.
• 63% favor an employer mandate.
• 59% want to fund the system through a surtax on wealthy Americans.

So where's the objection? Good question. It may be the speed with which Congress has tackled the problem. It may be that Republican misinformation is playing a role (Dick Morris is bragging about successfully turning young people agains health reform after all). It may be something else. Frankly, the data set is too limited to tell.

What do you think?