Like many people her age, Mary Donnelly supports the idea of health care reform, especially the “public option” concept, which would enter the federal government into the insurance market as another provider.

Donnelly is 30 and a student at Riverland Community College in Austin. And though she personally has a good health insurance plan, she knows many people in their 20s and 30s like herself don’t have coverage — something she’d like to see changed.

The 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 age groups — college students, like Donnelly, and young professionals — have the highest percentage of uninsured individuals of any measured age group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nearly one out of three people in this age range don’t have health insurance.

It might be no surprise then that this same age group is the most supportive of health care reform generally and of a public option in particular, according to recent survey data from Quinnipiac University. According to the university’s national poll released Dec. 22, 48 percent of people between 18 and 34 mostly approve of the Congressional health care plan, while 41 percent mostly disapprove — the only age group where more people support reform than oppose it.

The support from 18- to 34-year-olds for a public insurance option is even stronger — 67 percent of the young adults polled said they liked the idea.

However, whether a public option will make it through conference committee and to President Barack Obama’s desk is unclear. The House’s health reform bill integrated a public option, but the Senate’s did not, and many analysts feel that the Senate’s version will dominate the conference committee floor.

If a public option does become reality, expect Donnelly and many of her peers to applaud the decision.

“A lot of people don’t have health insurance,” she said. “I think we need to take care of them.”

Cost, unfamiliarity among reasons young adults aren’t covered

Experts say young adults go without coverage for several general reasons, including cost, unfamiliarity with getting insurance independently of their parents, and perhaps a feeling of invincibility that can come with the age.

The National Conference of State Legislatures for one is concerned with young adults who lose coverage as they transition off of their parents plans, typically at around age 19 or soon thereafter. To address this, many states are pushing for coverage to be extended up to the age of 26, regardless of school enrollment status. Under Minnesota law, someone can remain a dependent up until the age of 24, whether in school or not.

The NCSL also claims that coverage may be hard to obtain for young adults because entry level, low-paying jobs — those often available to recent graduates — typically do not offer health benefits. For those who don’t get coverage through work, purchasing health insurance in the individual market is generally unaffordable — 50 percent of uninsured young adults reside in households with incomes below the federal poverty level.

Dr. Ed Ehlinger, the director of the University of Minnesota’s Boynton Health Service, also said the transition off of a parent’s plan, as well as costs, can be roadblocks to young adults getting coverage.

Additionally, Ehlinger said a feeling of invincibility may sway some college-aged people.

“Many (young adults) would rather spend money on something else,” he said. “They’re risk takers.”

What transpires, according to the NCSL, is the largest growing age group in the country at risk of being uninsured. Young adults currently account for 13 million of the 47 million Americans living without health insurance.

Colleges could be part of the solution

Whether or not a public option that could benefit uninsured young adults passes, many colleges and universities may already be taking steps to increase the number of students with insurance.

Thirty-eight percent of four-year colleges in the country required coverage for students in 2008, up from 25 percent just two years earlier, according to the American College Health Association.

The University of Minnesota is one such school that requires insurance. Students can come in with their own coverage, or get a plan through the on-campus Boynton service.

Boynton director Ehlinger said he’s been advocating for more schools to follow the university’s lead. The doctor said healthy students are often more effective in class, and offering a university-based insurance option helps keep costs down for the young adults.

“We think, overall, that it reduces the cost of education,” Ehlinger said.

At the University of Minnesota, roughly 85 percent of students surveyed in 2007 reported that they had health insurance, meaning some are slipping past the school’s mandate. Ehlinger said this is likely because the university doesn’t audit every insurance number provided by every student. Additionally, nearly 55 percent of international students report being uninsured — a number likely swelled because of a misunderstanding of the question, Ehlinger noted, but a stat that certainly affects the university’s overall percentage. Still, the numbers are better than the general 18 to 34 crowd.

Riverland, like the rest of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, does not require insurance for students, except those coming in from out of the country, and does not track student insurance numbers.

However, MnSCU member Minnesota State University-Moorhead recently started a pilot program requiring coverage for students, and director of health and wellness Carol Grimm said it’s been a success so far.

Within one year of starting the program, the percentage of uninsured students on campus dropped by one percent, Grimm said. The director added that she anticipated the program being continued past its five-year pilot and said more schools should require insurance.

“Yeah, I would (advocate for mandatory coverage at schools),” Grimm said. “It’s called insurance for a reason. You don’t need it until you need it.”

Could a public option clash with schools like the ‘U’?

Ehlinger said one thing could stand in the way of more schools joining the likes of the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State University-Moorhead in requiring coverage and offering on-campus plans — a public insurance option.

He said if such an option were available, support — and funds — for school supported plans might dwindle. At the University of Minnesota, Ehlinger said this would be impacting a very good insurance plan that offers good rates.

Grimm was less critical of the public option, adding that she personally supported it.

However, neither college health expert offered much of a prediction about the public option’s chances of making it through committee, past the president and into law.

“That’s the ‘$64,000 Question,’ isn’t it?” Grimm said.