Despite concern that young Americans won't purchase insurance on exchanges created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the least likely buyers are actually the older and wealthier segments of the population, according to a new analysis from Deft Research.
The report is based on an April 2013 survey of 5,084 currently uninsured, subsidy-eligible adults between the ages of 18 and 64. Results found that while 37 percent of respondents most likely to purchase insurance on the exchanges were under 34, 44 percent of those least likely were over 50.
Older and wealthier Americans will face both higher premiums and smaller subsidies on the new exchanges, both factors that would dissuade a purchase and make it more likely they will take the tax penalty, according to the report.
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