Uninsured Millennials… Here Comes Obama

Last week, the Obama Administration announced that they would be searching the tax records of 18-34 year olds in search of uninsured millennials who paid an ACA penalty for not having qualified health coverage in 2015.

Since insurance carriers rely on healthy younger people to offset the cost of health care for the aged and ill, the administration seeks to persuade the more than 12 million millennials who don’t have health coverage that they need to enroll.

Younger consumers can expect threats of increased penalties for failure to obtain coverage. Outreach will include direct mailings and advertisements about the benefits of enrollment into Obamacare.

The penalty starts at $695 if an individual did not have health coverage in 2016, but it increases to the greater of $695 or 2.5% of taxable income for anyone earning $28,000 or higher.

The campaign will be challenged because the next enrollment period that begins on November 1, 2016 coincides with the release of the announcements of proposed 2017 health premiums, which are expected to be significantly higher than in 2016. Even with mild increases, millennials may not be inclined to obtain coverage.