Content

Commonwealth Fund Survey of Young Adults

Award Amount: $266,744
Approval Date: July 15, 2008
Start Date: August 1, 2008
End Date: July 31, 2009
International Communications Research
53 West Baltimore Pike
Media, Pennsylvania 19063-5698
Principal Investigator: Melissa J. Herrmann

Updated each year since 2003, the Fund issue brief "Rite of Passage?" provides the latest information on insurance coverage of adults ages 19 to 29—one of the largest groups of Americans without health insurance. The annual publication, which has established the Fund as the go-to source of information on the issue, also recommends policy options for ensuring that more young adults have stable, quality coverage. Expanding upon this work, the project team will conduct a new survey of 2,000 young adults to investigate their attitudes toward health insurance, their experiences seeking insurance, their financial ability to secure coverage from available sources, the quality of coverage they now have, and their use of health services. The new survey will further the nation's understanding of the causes and implications of this coverage deficit and provide policymakers with concrete guidance on ways to help young adults obtain, and maintain, health insurance.