Trend: Bankrupt!: Bank of Mom+Dad: Slacker Insurance

Continuing my series + + on the economic implications of emerging "kid adults" who increasingly rely on Mom+Pop to finance their way post-graduation and beyond...NY Times reports on legislative trends to increase the maximum ages that "children" can stay on their parents’ health insurance plans - sometimes well into their 20’s.

Some stat highlights:

*About 30 percent of adults ages 18 to 24, and more than one-quarter of adults 25 to 34, are uninsured, though the average for all age groups is 16 percent, according to figures released by the Census Bureau in late August.

*The availability of health insurance in the workplace has become a problem for young adults. One reason employers are reluctant to hire full-time employees is the rising cost of health insurance and other benefits. The percentage of employers offering health insurance dropped to 60 percent in 2005, down from 66 percent in 2000, according to a survey of employers conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

*Thus, new graduates, from both high school and college, are entering a job market that is increasingly characterized by consulting, freelance and contract jobs.

*And many employers that still offer insurance are asking employees to shoulder a higher share of the premiums.

And predictably, young adults are keeping the change and opting out of insurance or bumming a ride on Dad's plan.

“Basically, I’m a healthy 31-year-old male,” one young freelancer said. “The last three times I went to the doctor, everything was O.K. So I haven’t felt the need for insurance.”

Other young adults said they had more pressing financial priorities. Tom Donatelli, a 29-year-old freelance cameraman from Brooklyn, is eager to reduce his credit-card and other debt. “If I have extra money, then it’s going to go toward debt that I already have, not debt that I might have."


AKI COMMENT: Though one way to address this is to initiate a universal healthcare plan for all America's citizens...starting with kids. But that is another story for another time.