Gius, International Journal of Applied Economics, 7(1), March 2010, 1-17 1 An Analysis of the Health Insurance Coverage of Young Adults Mark P. Gius Quinnipiac University Abstract The purpose of the present study is to examine the determinants of health insurance coverage for young adults. Results of the present study suggest that socioeconomic factors are most important in determining which young adults have health insurance and which do not. If a person is a young, African-American male, who lives in the South, and does not have a full-time job, then that person, in all likelihood, will not have health insurance. Although the specific reasons a person does not have health insurance may vary, it is no doubt due to the cost of the insurance and to the belief that health insurance is unnecessary because the person is healthy. Keywords: Health Insurance, young adults, national health interview survey JEL Classification: I18 1. Introduction The issues of health insurance coverage and health care costs have been of concern to the public and to the government for decades. From the failed efforts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to include some type of compulsory health insurance in the Social Security Bill of 1935 to the botched health care reform attempt by the Clinton administration in the early 1990s, various Presidents and other public officials have tried to mandate health insurance coverage for all individuals. The primary reason for these efforts at instituting universal health insurance coverage is the belief that health insurance is a necessity and that lack of insurance may result in prolonged illness, bankruptcy, and even premature death. Since individual health insurance is relatively expensive, most efforts at health insurance reform typically include some type of risk pooling; such pooling exists in employer-provided health insurance plans. In most employer-provided plans, a new employee is automatically enrolled in the company’s health insurance without needing any type of physical examination. In addition, typically all employees pay the same premium, regardless of their health status. In the individual health insurance market, however, most applicants for insurance must submit to physical examinations and answer lengthy questionnaires regarding their health history. If an individual has a chronic condition or was seriously ill in the past, then, in all likelihood, that person would not be able to obtain insurance. Hence, most proposals for universal health insurance contain some version of risk-pooling, either by the establishment of a government- operated insurance program, such as Medicare, or by creating a quasi-government cooperative