More than 13 million young people between the ages of 19 and 29 lacked health insurance in 2003—a number that exploded from 10.8 million in 2000, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report.

The report, released in conjunction with ‘Cover the Uninsured Week’ (May 1-, said more than 30 percent of 19 - 29-year-olds are uninsured—almost double the number of workers older than 30 who don’t have health insurance. But, young people’s problems are just part of a growing American trend. The United States government estimates that 45 million Americans lack coverage of any kind for an entire year, according to the ‘Cover the Uninsured Week’ website. And additional research shows that tens of millions more go without health coverage for shorter periods of time.

America’s health care system is to blame, according to Sara Collins, the fund’s senior program officer.

“There are gaping holes in our health care system that leave too many young adults vulnerable to risks that could jeopardize their future health and economic security,” she said. “To start, we could expand public and private coverage for dependent children to age 23, instead of cutting off coverage at age 19.”


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