Administration Targets Young People for Obamacare Sign-Ups

With the sign-up of young persons lagging behind the needs of balancing young and old, healthy and sick, the administration is turning to cyberspace and other initiatives to lure young people into signing up for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces. In 2016, fewer than 30 percent of Obamacare sign-ups out of the 13 million total were between the ages of 18 and 34. For break-even on the insurer actuarial front, the figure should be 40 percent or higher. The White House also held a summit yesterday on youth outreach to hone tactics, which include using Twitter and other social media. Observed Larry Levitt, senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, on the need to enroll the under-35 crowd: "If enrollment stagnates, there could be even more insurer exits, triggering a debate about possible fixes to the law."