Recent enrollment estimates for the Affordable Health Care exchange reveal young people have not been signing up for health insurance, raising concern over the marketplace’s financial viability.
The first set of data revealed this week showed that only 106,000 people have signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, most of whom are elderly and have medical problems, the Associated Press reports.
The exchange’s viability hinges on young people signing up to offset costs of insuring older patients with medical issues. The White House has estimated that it needs two younger people to sign up for Obamacare for every three older participants.
If the problem persists, insurance companies will be forced to increase insurance premiums and deductibles, or even leave the marketplace to avoid too much financial loss.
[AP]