[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24965-24966]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           PROVIDING AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR YOUNG ADULTS

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, Speaker Pelosi announced an 
important new addition to the health insurance reform package. Young 
adults will be able to remain on their parents' health insurance plans 
until their 27th birthday.
  Young adults make up one-third of the entire uninsured population, 
numbering 13.7 million. Only 53 percent of young adults are even 
eligible for employer-based insurance, and 51 percent do not have 
health coverage through their jobs.

[[Page 24966]]

  Young adults have the highest rate of injury-related emergency 
department visits and 15 percent have a chronic health condition. Half 
are overweight or obese, 9 percent have been diagnosed with depression 
or a related condition, and the highest prevalence of human papilloma 
virus, which has been linked to cervical cancer, is among women age 20-
24. Young adults experience six preventable deaths each day due to lack 
of health insurance.
  This is clearly an age group that needs health insurance. But young 
adults are among those least likely to have access to coverage. 
Allowing them to remain as a dependent on their parents' health 
insurance plans will bring quality health insurance within reach for 
millions of young adults.

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