Health-care roulette: One in three young Oregonians going without
Thursday, February 3, 2005 7:30 AM PST
By Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articlePORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Phil Kelley felt a lump under his left armpit last October.
A battery of blood tests, CT images and MRI scans helped doctors diagnose lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, a key part of the body's immune defense.
The medical outlook for Kelley, 24, is favorable, but his financial outlook is bleak. Like many people in their 20s, Kelley lacks health insurance.
Kelley, who was laid off from his restaurant job last month, has an $8,000 bill from Oregon Health & Science University for diagnostic testing alone, and faces twice-a-month chemotherapy.
"Young people get sick, too," said Dorothy Kelley, Phil's mother.
More than one in three adults ages 20 to 29 lack insurance, the most recent statewide data show. The uninsured rate for that group jumped to 38 percent last year, from 31 percent in 2002.
The main reason: Young people are more likely than older adults to be unemployed, or self-employed, or employed part time, or employed by small businesses that don't offer company-paid health benefits.
As a group, young people need less medical care than adults. But by going uninsured, they often play a risky game of roulette, quickly racking up high, out-of-pocket medical bills when an accident or illness occurs.
For people not covered through a job or a government-paid plan, such as Medicare or Medicaid, private policies are available. But few young people choose to pay the premiums, which can run several hundred dollars a month or more.
A youthful sense of immortality also plays into that, said Tina Edlund, data and research manager for the Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research, which advises the governor and the Legislature on health issues.
"They kind of think they're going to live forever," Edlund said. "Health insurance is not high on their lists."
Jennifer Nelson, 26, who works part time and has no health insurance, said, "If something bad happened, I don't know what I'd do. But I can't spend my life freaking out about that."
Nelson grew up in Portland and has a degree in English literature from Portland State University. She works 25 hours a week as a cocktail waitress at a Portland bar.
She had health insurance through a previous job but didn't enjoy the work. She likes the flexibility of working part time.
"Taking a job just for the sake of having health insurance isn't worth it," she said.
Full-time college students can stay on their parents' health insurance policies until their 23rd birthday. But this benefits mainly upper-income families, a study by the Commonwealth Fund concluded.
The study found a big difference between college-age adults from families with incomes in the top 20 percent and those from families with incomes in the bottom 20 percent. Only 6 percent of college-age adults from the most affluent families were uninsured. Among the poorest families, 53 percent were uninsured.
Young adults without health insurance tend to skip preventive care and delay responding to early warning signs of illness, the study found. Forty percent reported receiving no preventive care during the previous year. A similar proportion said they wait as long as possible before seeking care when sick.
"You could get yourself in a world of hurt," said Micah Shelton, 27, an uninsured paramedic for Metro West Ambulance in Washington County. "If something major happens, I'd be up the creek."
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