Our health care system is inefficient, businesses and families are drowning in health care costs, and health insurance companies are profiting while denying care to those that need it most.  

To summarize: we pay more for less and some of us get nothing at all.  Not good.  

We need to deal with three big problems in our current health care system: (1) the cost of care, (2) the lack of access to care; and (3) the need for better-quality care. You may be a 25-year-old freelancer with a pre-existing condition who can't buy insurance in the private market or a 20-year-old line cook who doesn't receive insurance through work or a 28-year-old bank employee who has insurance, but is worried about the rising costs of premiums and job security.  

No matter who you are if you are a young adult in America you are living and breathing the health care issue. We have the most to lose from the failure of health insurance reform and the most to benefit from a system that provides guaranteed, affordable access to all Americans.

How do we know?

• Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 have the highest uninsured rate of any age group.  Nearly 1 in 3 is uninsured. And we can’t count on coverage through our parents (assuming they have insurance) or a public program because those plans typically terminate when someone turns 19 years old.
   
• Many young people have entry-level, low-wage, and temporary jobs that often do not offer health coverage and public coverage options for low-income young adults are very limited.  Half of uninsured 19- to 29-year olds work full time, but can’t afford health care because of low wages.
   
• Half of all youth have been uninsured at some point in the past two years.
   
• One-third of the U.S. population is made up of racial and ethnic minorities, yet minorities represent over half of the uninsured.
   
• One out of five young Americans went without needed care because they could not afford it.
   
• Two-thirds of young voters said the U.S. should provide health care for all.

Here is what’s happening now: real health insurance reform that addresses the three big issues –coverage, cost, and quality – is working its way through Congress. Members of Congress and Senators are back in DC tackling this debate.

Need more information? Check out the New York Times FAQ - it's pretty good.

The solution: reform, baby, reform!

This is a complex issue. We’re here to help.

Right now, most young people get insurance through our parents, our jobs, or at school. Too old to be on your parents plan, aren’t at a fancy college, work as a freelancer, or don’t have a job at all?  Well, you probably don’t have health insurance. And, if you do, you or your sugar daddy pay a lot for it.  
 
One way to make sure you can get covered is with a “public option.” (Good question. The “public option” is a government insurance program that would be open to anyone.  Short version: you buy into this public plan just like you would buy insurance from an insurance company. Your doctor would send the bill to the government instead of you, just like the old folks get with Medicare.  The public option would operate alongside private insurance companies, making the market more competitive and driving quality up and costs down. As President Obama has said: “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.” Now, if you don’t have a doctor or a health care plan, the public option is there for you.)
 
By the way, even if you have insurance, there are lots of ways insurance companies can deny you coverage or stop your coverage. We call this “screwing you.”  Not anymore under reform proposals:

• No discrimination for pre-existing conditions (a “pre-existing condition” is stuff you got before today or can’t get rid of, like asthma, cancer, a broken back from a bike accident). Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing coverage because of your medical history.
   
• No dropping of coverage for the seriously ill. Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage when you get gimpy.
   
• No gender discrimination. Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because you have ovaries. Seems fair.
   
• Extended coverage for young adults. You can stay on your parents insurance until you are 26. Nice! Right now, most youngsters get dumped from coverage at 19 or 22.

OK, so there is a lot of talk about how expensive health insurance has gotten. Premiums - the bill you pay every month for your insurance, like a gym membership or cell phone bill – have more than doubled in the last 10 years. Here are some things reform will do to keep down your costs:

• No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses (“out-of-pocket” means out of your pocket), deductibles (“deductibles” are what you pay for treatment before your insurance kicks in, often hundreds of dollars . . . and that’s when you have insurance!) or co-pays (“co-pay” means “share the cost,” as in we’ll pay for this doctor visit after you pay $50). Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for this stuff.
   
• No cost-sharing for preventive care (“preventative care” is on-going maintenance, like changing the oil in your car or doing the dishes before the cockroaches find them). Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness.

What else do you want to know? Check out the New York Times glossary of all things health care related. Can't find it there? Drop us a line. Maybe we can find out.

WE DEMAND HEALTH CARE.

Congress is in the home stretch of a long debate on health care. These next few weeks will determine whether health insurance reform is going to pass or fail. And we need you to get involved.

Click here to go to the health care action center.

In the action center, you can get in the game in a bunch of ways:

• Sign the pledge to act (and really mean it!)
• Write a letter to your Senator demanding health care
• Watch our kick ass videos (including some famous fake doctors for real health care reform)
• Get visible with a sweet t-shirt
• Contribute to the cause
• And help spread the word to your friends

You know that the health care system is broken: young people are the most uninsured population in the country. The status quo is no longer an option. We need bold, real reform and we need it fast. Real reform means that insurance companies can’t jack up prices and reject young people with a pre-existing condition. It means that everyone can be covered and that young people of all economic backgrounds will be able to afford quality health care, which now has become too expensive for many of us.

Don't your voice get drowned out. Let's tell the politicians and the forces who are trying to stop reform: Yes we care!

Stand with us and scream - WE DEMAND HEALTH CARE.