The number of young adults with health insurance continues to rise, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
One provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is that young adults can stay on their parents’ insurance plans through age 26. This policy took effect in September 2010. Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) shows that since then, more young adults have obtained private health insurance, with approximately 2.5 million more young adults with insurance coverage compared to the number of young adults who would have been insured without the law.
Data from the first three months of 2011 showed that one million more young adults had insurance coverage compared to a year ago. The numbers show a continuation of the coverage gains as students graduate from high school and college in May and June and otherwise would have lost coverage.