College Grads: Affordability and Health Reform Key Drivers to Get Health Insurance Coverage

Parents Influence Opinions on Reform: Parents have a greater influence on their children's opinions of health reform legislation while they're in college. After graduation the news media's influence begins to rival mom and dad.



-- Two-in-five college students (40%) said their parents had a greater

influence on their opinions about health reform than the news media

(19%), friends (8%) or teachers (6%)

-- Parents' ability to influence their children's opinions of health

reform legislation diminishes significantly (14% decrease) after they

graduate from college

-- Just over one-in-four recent graduates (26%) said their parents had a

greater influence on their opinions about health reform than other

sources, such as friends (13%) or politicians (8%)



Buy vs. Bail: Paying for Health Insurance or Tax Penalties? In spite of their objections, nearly two-thirds of current students (64%) and recent graduates (65%) say they'll obey the new law and buy health insurance in 2014.



-- More than two-in-five recent graduates (41%) and current students

(41%) say they'll obey the "personal responsibility requirements" by

purchasing the least expensive health insurance they can find; And,

almost one-in-four recent graduates (23%) and current students (24%)

say they'll research and buy the best insurance plan available when

new policies are formalized.

-- Nearly one-in-three graduates (30%) and close to one-in-four students

(24%) say they'll do whichever costs less: buy a low-cost health

insurance plan OR pay an annual tax penalty and go without health

insurance.

-- Only six percent (6%) of recent graduates and eight percent (8%) of

current students say they'll opt to pay the tax penalty indefinitely,

or wait until they get sick to buy health insurance



Young people between the ages of 18-30 continue to be the largest group of uninsured people in America today.



Sources: (1) U.S. Census: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010 (2) eHealth, Inc.'s 2009 report: The Cost & Benefits of Individual and Family Health Insurance Plans 2009. The data referred to in this report is an aggregation of data reported to eHealthInsurance by health insurance carriers that eHealthInsurance has an agency relationship.



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