With Open Enrollment on Horizon, Young People Key to Obamacare's Success

Aside from House Republicans' 40th attempt last week to repeal or revise the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as "Obamacare," and their threat to shut down the government on Oct. 1 if the program is not defunded, the Obama administration's implementation of the health care reform law faces another roadblock -- getting young people to enroll. Open enrollment for health insurance exchanges kicks off Oct. 1 and in order for the program to be a success, young adults need to sign up.

Seven million people is the magic number the Obama administration hopes to have enrolled by the end of March. Of that, they want more than 2.5 million to be made up of young, healthy people to offset the costs of caring for the old and sick.

That goal may not be an easy feat. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 51 percent of 18-29-year-olds are unaware that the Affordable Care Act is still the law. And with outside parties' campaigns to dissuade this key demographic, convincing them to choose coverage over a fine could be a tough sell.

Read the full story here: http://to.pbs.org/12Yhu4w

Source: PBS