Consistent Health Coverage and Care: Eliminating Barriers to Health and Wellbeing for Young Adults

As young adults are setting out on their own, they face a rapidly changing world, new responsibilities, and enormous challenges and opportunities. When young people are healthy, they have a solid foundation from which to build their lives and pursue their education, career, and personal goals. Young adults have experienced significant improvements in health coverage and access to care since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but they continue to face barriers to coverage and care that put them at a disadvantage. Recent federal policy decisions have created new obstacles, slowing progress and putting young adults at greater risk of losing coverage. This brief looks at the barriers young people face in accessing health coverage and outlines policy recommendations to ensure they have consistent care as they build a strong foundation for lifelong health and well-being.

Read the full compendium in the Consistent Health Coverage and Care series here.