Team Obama seems to have gotten itself in a bind and they don't even know it yet. The White House is desperately trying to get millennials to sign up for Obamacare through state and federal exchanges in order for the program to work. Without millennials (young and healthy people) getting into the system to pay for older, sicker people, costs remain extremely high and the system collapses. Despite this economic fact about how Obamacare works, the White House, Organizing for Action and Democratic politicians supportive of the administration are touting new rules in the healthcare overhaul that allow millions of young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance plans until they're 26-years-old.
Under 26? Today's #Obamacare number is for you. pic.twitter.com/VN68UgrKAC
— OFA (@OFA) December 18, 2013
How the #ACA is giving 3 million young adults—and their parents—some peace of mind: pic.twitter.com/AuzOkQdFau
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) December 18, 2013
FACT: #Obamacare has helped more than 3 million young adults #GetCovered by staying on their parents' plans. pic.twitter.com/xEk0aQmLhX
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 18, 2013
There are a number of different problems with this. First, if young people are staying on their parents' plan, they aren't getting into the exchanges. Second, these young adults cannot stay on their parents' health insurance plan if that plan has been cancelled. Already we've seen more than 5 million plans cancelled as a result of Obamacare and once the employer mandate kicks in, we're looking at a loss of at least 80 million plans. Third, what if parents can't afford to keep their children on their plan? Thanks to Obamacare, premiums and deductibles have tripled to an unaffordable price despite the health legislation being officially named "The Affordable Care Act" and despite President Obama stating, "No family should have to choose between buying health insurance and putting food on the table."
Adam Weldzius, a nurse practitioner, considers himself better informed than most when it comes to the inner workings of health insurance. But even he wasn't prepared for the pocketbook hit he'll face next year under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
If the 33-year-old single father wants the same level of coverage next year as what he has now with the same insurer and the same network of doctors and hospitals, his monthly premium of $233 will more than double. If he wants to keep his monthly payments in check, the Carpentersville resident is looking at an annual deductible for himself and his 7-year-old daughter of $12,700, a more than threefold increase from $3,500 today.
And finally, enter the adult-child syndrome the Obama administration loves to promote. The goal is to keep young people dependent on the government as long as possible so they keep voting for Democrats. From my column in the December issue Townhall Magazine:
The idea that 26-year-olds are “kids” should be strongly rejected not only by people in their twenties, but by society as a whole.
Big government has an interest in delaying adulthood because it keeps young people in an unrealistic world of free stuff and consequence-free actions. The last thing big government promoters want is for young people to move into the real world to realize how much things cost and what it takes to be independent.
The real world teaches young people a lot about the realities of life. Young people who are independent from government and their parents see the consequences of not paying a credit card bill on time. They ask themselves if the $100 per month cable bill is worth it. They learn to to save for a down payment on a car or house.
In addition, young people are ambi- tious and entrepreneurial, which means when they try to start businesses, they find out government regulation isn’t a good thing for their personal financial growth or for the economy.
At the very least, classifying 26-year- olds as “kids” is patronizing. More importantly, this classification only delays important decisions and the reality of personal responsibility, financial stability and independent decision-making. It eliminates the abil- ity for young people to succeed or fail all on their own and to learn from those successes and failures.
It's time for "kids" to grow up and out of the basements of mom, dad and the government.
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