The rate of uninsured Texans ages 18 to 34 dropped from 33 percent in 2013 to 21 percent in 2016, according to a new report from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation both located in Houston.
The uninsured rate of young adults is now lower than the same rate among Texans ages 36 to 49. This shift, researchers suggest, is largely due to the ACA's provision that permits children to stay on their parents' insurance plan up to the age of 26. Researchers also attributed the rise of insured young adults to the ACA's requirement of employers to provide workers with affordable health insurance and the robust Texas economy.
The most likely "young invincibles" — insurance nomenclature used to identify young adults who often view health insurance as a nonessential purchase — left uninsured were Hispanics and individuals making less than $16,000 annually.
"For those young adults with the lowest incomes, the ACA coverage solution was an expanded Medicaid program," said Elena Marks, EHF's president and CEO and a nonresident health policy fellow at the Baker Institute. "Because Texas has not yet opted to use the federal Medicaid dollars to cover these individuals, it's likely they'll remain uninsured."