The League of Iowa Human & Civil Rights Agencies

Better health doesn’t seem to explain why so many young people forgo health insurance. Rather, income does, according to new survey data released by Gallup. First, some background. One of the explanations for rising health care costs is that relatively healthy people are taking their chances and going without insurance. The relatively sick pool of insured customers who remain drive up the cost of premiums, at least if there is any form of risk-sharing (like community rating) within that pool. That, in turn, helps drive out the healthiest people who are willing to take their chances, which then drives the cost of premiums up further, and so on. This is sometimes referred to as the “death spiral” of health insurance.

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