WKU News

The numbers are startling. Between a quarter and a third of young adults in Kentucky and Indiana - nearly 400,000 new figure: 394,000 people between the ages of 20 and 30 - lack health insurance.

Today, in the second installment of a Courier-Journal three-part series on the health-insurance crisis among the middle class, we examine the plight of young adults - the biggest and fastest-growing age group of people going without health insurance.

The reasons are many: Young adults are more likely to work part-time, or for employers who don't offer insurance because of the cost; they're paid low starting wages that leave premiums out of reach; or they simply decide to spend their money on other things - gambling they won't be hurt in a car wreck, get seriously ill, or become pregnant.

For many, that bet is a loser, resulting in serious illness or a hospital visit that can leave them deep in debt and sometimes bankrupt.

In the end, everybody pays. Medical bills aren't paid, so hospital and doctor fees rise for other patients, resulting in higher insurance premiums and more taxes to pay rising costs for such programs as Medicaid.

Health care today represents 16.6 percent of the nation's annual spending - more than $2.trillion - and it is only expected to go up.

Overall, the higher costs are being fueled by an aging population that is living longer; wide use of new technology; skyrocketing prescription drug costs; the price of administering insurance programs; and increased spending on chronic diseases, obesity and illnesses related to smoking.

In July, The Courier-Journal explored the plight of millions of middle-class Americans in their 30s, 40s and early 50s who are finding health-care costs beyond their reach.

Today we focus on 20-somethings and the dilemmas they face. People like 28-year-old Pam Swisher of Germantown in Louisville who has not been able to afford health insurance, even though she wants it.

"In a lot of situations, (this) is the only choice: Get the help you need and owe for it, or don't get the help you need," she said.

In October, the series concludes with an examination of the health-insurance problems confronting retirees and those preparing to retire.

http://www.courier-journal.com/cjextra/healthinsurance/index.html at courier-journal