13.7 million ages 19 to 29 lack healthcare

NEW YORK , N.M., May 30 (UPI) -- U.S. young adults ages 19 to 29 are one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the population without health insurance, researchers said.

The report from The Commonwealth Fund found 38 percent of high school graduates who do not attend college and 34 percent of college graduates will spend some time uninsured in the year after graduation.

The number of uninsured young adults in the United States rose to 13.7 million in 2006 -- an increase from 13.3 million in 2005, the report said.

Working young adults are much less likely than older workers to have access to health insurance through their employers. Fifty-three percent of those ages 19 to 29 were eligible for coverage health insurance offered by their employers, compared with about three-quarters of those ages 30 to 64, the report said.

Young adults often lose coverage at age 19, a result of being dropped from parents' policies or from public programs like Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

The report said 66 percent of young adults who went without insurance coverage in the past year had gone without needed healthcare because of cost and one-half reported problems paying medical bills or were paying off medical debt over time.