A 19-year old who uses vigorous exercise to sweat off a viral illness. A 23-year old asthmatic who uses his inhalers only during a severe attack finds himself back in the ED when he runs out in the middle of one. A 28-year old who racked up almost $20 000 in hospital charges for a two-day stay for the treatment of a common gastrointestinal ailment. A 27-year old journalism student and type I diabetic who has taken the desperate step of using needle syringes to inject insulin at the risk of severe complications after running out of stockpiled ($900/month) tubing needed to maintain his continuous insulin-infusing pump. Are the health behaviors of these patients irresponsible, reckless, and shortsighted — or are they merely necessary?

The demographic healthcare policymakers and third parties like to call the “young invincibles” are anything but. These young adults, mainly in their 20′s, are having to resort to taking care of themselves in the most extreme ways possible simply to avoid the relative high cost of encountering healthcare  – without the benefit of insurance, whose premiums can run as high as $900 monthly for an individual. In a fractured economy with little in the way of immediate prospects for new graduates, they see these measures not as extreme, but prudent. They all probably have one thing in common, though: they are all relying on NY Governor David Paterson and his proposal to companies allowing parents to claim these young adults as dependents for insurance purposes — up to age 29. | LINK

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