Poll finds younger people expect their costs to rise under ObamaCare

Nearly two-thirds of people younger than 40 expect their health insurance premiums to rise because of President Obama’s healthcare law, according to a new poll — but most are willing to pay.

Sixty-four percent said they believe their premiums will rise, according to the survey. Only 9 percent believed their premiums would fall; 17 percent thought costs would stay the same.

Young people are the most likely to see their premiums go up as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made waves recently by acknowledging that young, healthy people could face higher premiums once the law is fully in place next year.

{mosads}The Forum — the conservative think tank led by former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin — commissioned a survey of 801 adults between the ages of 18 and 41.

Most of the people surveyed have insurance through an employer — meaning they won’t be affected by the law’s highest-profile policies. The law mostly applies to small businesses and the individual market, where people who don’t get coverage through an employer can shop on their own.

Still, the law’s critics say premium increases are likely in employer-based plans — not just individual policies.

Overall, the under-40 crowd seemed willing to pay higher premiums. 

A majority said they would still purchase coverage if their premiums increase by double digits: 83 percent would still buy coverage if their premiums spiked by 10 percent; 65 percent would still buy in with a 20 percent increase; and 55 percent would still buy insurance even if they see a 30 percent spike in monthly premiums.

But when respondents were asked to imagine losing their insurance coverage next year, they became more sensitive to price. 

A plurality (40 percent) of the people surveyed in the American Action Forum poll seemed to recognize that young people in the individual market could see costs rise because young people will help cover the cost of covering older, sicker patients who might have been denied insurance or faced prohibitively high costs before the healthcare law passed.