Young adults are struggling to understand health insurance

online health insurance technology exchange

Study highlights a lack of awareness of insurance terms and difficulty navigating HealthCare.gov

Young adults may be having trouble enrolling in health insurance exchanges through HealthCare.gov, according to a study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The study revealed that many young adults had trouble navigating the federal insurance platform, which may come as a surprise considering that this demographic tends to be quite tech-savvy. This difficulty may be the result of the federal network’s structure, which has been criticized in the past for being ineffective.

Lack of understanding could be creating a problem among young consumers and their search for insurance

The study observed 33 individuals between the ages of 19 and 30 that were classified as “highly educated.” The study found that the majority of these individuals had trouble understanding the standard technology of the HealthCare.gov platform. Notably, however, these people expressed a lack of understanding about health insurance terms, such as “deductible” and “co-insurance.” This lack of understanding affected their ability to understand what insurance plans were available to them and which of these plans were best suited to their health and financial issues.

Pharmacists may be a valuable resource for those interested in insurance

online health insurance technology exchangeNotably, pharmacists may be able to help alleviate the issue by providing consumers with information about health insurance coverage and the costs that they face. The study suggests that pharmacists can help inform consumers about insurance terms and how coverage can affect the cost of medications, what kind of policies offer coverage for specific medications, and other such details. Pharmacists may not have all the answers to a person’s insurance questions, of course, and consumers are encouraged to seek out other resources in order to better understand insurance coverage.

Insurance terminology may be confusing for some consumers

The study shows that 48% of those observed were unable to define deductibles correctly, with 78% unable to define co-insurance. Apart from the navigation issues these people expressed with HealthCare.gov, this lack of insurance terminology could be a significant problem for other young adults interested in purchasing health insurance coverage.

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