Obama administration reduces expectations of young adult ACA enrollment

The White House anticipated more young adults would sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through the exchanges, but a recent CNN blog noted the Obama administration is revising its expectations.

According to the CNN blog, White House officials utilized estimates from the Congressional Budget Office regarding the number of young adults signing up for insurance benefits through the marketplaces. The office expected 40 percent of the 7 million exchange enrollees would be Americans between 18 and 34 years of age by the March deadline, yet enrollment in the age group only makes up 27 percent of total enrollment, the blog pointed out.

Age demographics of enrollees do change according to the state, as well as the insurance carrier and plan type. Forbes reported one insurance carrier saw 37 percent of enrollment coming from those under 40 years of age by Jan. 27. 

Many officials hoped larger numbers of young Americans would sign up for insurance plans, as having more, healthy young people paying premiums decreases the cost of coverage for older individuals.