The new health care law has added an additional 2.5 million young adults since it went into effect, according to a new analysis the Obama administration will release Wednesday, The Associated Press reports.
The drop in the number of uninsured young adults is 21/2 times as large as government and private estimates made earlier this year, which showed about 1 million Americans ages 19-25 had gained coverage.
"The increase in coverage among 19- to 25-year-olds can be directly attributed to the Affordable Care Act's new dependent coverage provision," a draft report from the Health and Human Services Department said, according to AP, who obtained a copy of the report. "Initial gains from this policy have continued to grow as ... students graduate from high school and college."
Under the new dependent coverage provision, which took effect last fall, children can remain on their parents' health insurance plans until they turn 26.
Using unpublished data from the government's ongoing National Health Interview Survey, analysts in HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' policy office determined that nearly 36 percent [roughly 10.5 million people] of those age 19-25 were uninsured in the third calendar quarter of 2010, before the provision took effect. But by the second calendar quarter of 2011, the number of uninsured young adults dropped to a little over 27 percent, or about 8 million people.
