Millennials (those younger than 30; also called Generation Y) may stand to gain more from an expansion of government health insurance than people in any other age group.
According to a new report by Pew Research Center, fully a third (33 percent) of those younger than age 30 say they are not covered by health insurance; that compares with 19 percent of those in Generation X, and smaller percentages of baby boomers (12 percent) and members of the Silent Generation (3 percent).
Yet Millennials' support for the health care proposals before Congress has been lukewarm at best. Millennials do favor many of the individual components in these proposals – for example, 65 percent favor the public option. But not many young people expect their own health care or insurance coverage to improve if health care legislation were to pass. And as is typically the case with major policy issues, Millennials have largely tuned out of the health care debate: They are far less likely than those in older age groups to report they have heard a lot about the issue.
In the survey, conducted in early January, fewer than half (47 percent) of Millennials said they generally favored the health care proposals being discussed in Congress, while 36 percent were opposed.
Of course, older age groups were even less supportive of the health care bills before Congress: Among Gen X, the baby boomers and Silent Generation, there was more opposition than support for the proposals; majorities of baby boomers (52 percent) and members of the Silent Generation (54 percent) opposed the health care bills.
There have been only modest changes in opinions about health care legislation – both among the general public and across age categories – since the summer. About as many Millennials said they supported the proposals in January (47 percent) as did so last July (44 percent). Support for the bills has remained fairly steady among older people, as well.
Support for bills' elements
Pew Research Center surveys conducted in July 2009 and October 2009 found that the public was more supportive of individual elements of the health care bills than of the legislation itself. This was the case for all age groups, including the Millennials.
In particular, Millennials broadly favored two of the bills' proposals that potentially could impact people who currently lack health insurance coverage: the requirement that all Americans have insurance, with the government providing help for those unable to afford it; and a government health insurance plan that would compete with private plans.
Sizable majorities across all age groups favored the requirement that all Americans have insurance – the so-called individual mandate. But Millennials and Gen Xers were much more supportive of a government health insurance plan – the public option – than were baby boomers or those in the Silent Generation.
In both July and October, clear majorities of Millennials favored the public option (61 percent in July, 65 percent in October); most Gen Xers also supported the public option (57 percent, 60 percent respectively). But opinion was more mixed among older age groups: In October, just 51 percent of boomers and 40 percent of those in the Silent Generation favored a government health insurance plan to compete with private plans.
Little personal benefit seen
However, as is the case with older Americans, most Millennials do not expect their own health care to improve if the legislation before Congress becomes law. Perhaps equally important, relatively few expect that their ability to obtain health insurance – if they lose a job or change jobs – to get better if the measure passes.
In January, just one-third of Millennials (33 percent) said their ability to obtain insurance if they lost a job or changed jobs would improve if the legislation became law; comparable percentages of Gen Xers (39 percent) and baby boomers (38 percent) said the same. Just 14 percent of those in the Silent Generation – most of whom are covered by Medicare – expected their ability to obtain coverage would improve under these same circumstances.
About one-quarter (24 percent) of those younger than 30 said their quality of care would likely improve, which is somewhat higher than the percentage of older Americans saying they would receive better care. More Millennials also said they expected their out-of-pocket health care costs to ease if legislation becomes law – but just as many Millennials said their out-of-pocket costs would get worse (34 percent) as said they would get better (33 percent) if a health care bill were to become law.
Source: Pew Research Center
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