Experts examine health law's effect on adulthood

In December 2009, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed through the Senate. All Democrats  voted in favor of this legislation, and all Republicans voted against it.

The fight against ObamaCare, a term coined by the right, raged on with representatives questioning the consequences into 2012.

The act attempts to change America’s health care system through a number of policy initiatives, including one that states offspring up to 26 years old can be covered under their parents’ health insurance.

Supporters say the law is evidence of just how crucial the social safety net has become in the wake of the Great Recession, as recent graduates are struggling to find a job with benefits.

Critics, on the other hand, read it as an example of government welfare run amok.

The Supreme Court voted to uphold the mandate Thursday.

Over the past year many large insurance companies such as Aetna, Hamas and Blue Cross Blue Shield issued statements in support of this legislation.

For many young adults the prospect of paying for their own insurance was already decided: even if PPACA was ruled unconstitutional most firms would continue to cover children under 26 on their parents plan.

The question left, then, is what are the social consequences of this law?

Change in degree

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a 15-year-old was considered an adult. Young adults were independent, and the price of freedom was responsibility. Individuals were expected to earn their own way.

In 1917, a high school education was ruled compulsory for all adults. The National Education Association was founded to standardize what an award of a high school degree meant.

“My grandfather was considered a very high-standard person in his small town because he had a high school diploma,” IU sociology professor Fabio Rojas said.

A high school diploma could earn someone the confidence to manage an entry-level position in sales or communications.

Then the 1960s brought civil reform.

Higher education opportunities were expanded to admit greater numbers of minorities and lower-income students. The “massification” of the education process, as termed by the American Council on Education, flooded the market with degrees.

Today, 56 million Americans have earned a bachelor’s degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the highest number in U.S. history.

But with educational opportunities expanded, the purpose, and perhaps social value, of a professional degree has changed.

Party time

The idea that adulthood advances with age has become socially accepted. Or, a longer adolescence has been embraced.

“We’ve started extending the teenage years,” IU business professor Joshua Perry said. “College becomes this major party time and time for finding yourself. This extends the time, and the notion, that adulthood doesn’t come on until you graduate from college.”

Higher education has freed students from immediately taking on responsibility for mortgage rates, grocery bills and paying for health care after high school graduation.
“You know, in the old days you went from childhood to adulthood in fewer steps,” IU law professor David Orentlicher said. “And now it’s more a gradual progression.”

Some cite the job market as a reason young adults are supposedly dependent on parents.

This May unemployment among college graduates was 9.4 percent, according to Economic Policy Institute.

A poor economy and the expansion of higher education opportunities can be credited with this statistic. The market has been flooded with degrees, and employer demand is low.

But parents’ expectations for their children have also been lowered.

In 1993, a Newsweek poll found that 80 percent of parents believed children should be financially independent by the age of 22.

Today, only 67 percent of parents take this view, while 31 percent said children shouldn’t have to be on their own financially until age 25 or later.

Opponents of PPACA argue that letting a 26-year-old stay on their parents’ health insurance inspires apathy toward the job search.

“The term ‘dependent,’ in this case, really means ‘adult child,’” said Beth Meyerson, IU assistant professor in applied health science . “I don’t think that (extended health care) would engender anyone to end up being 40 in their parents’ basement.”

Proponents of PPACA argue that extending health care coverage leaves time for individuals to focus on their long-term goals, rather than short-term necessities. It allows graduates time to accept unpaid internships and gain career experience.

“No one is saying a 26-year-old is a child,” Samuel Flint, IU-Northwest School of Public and Environmental Affairs director said.

“There’s children, adolescents and young adults. I don’t think this will infantilize America anymore than it has been. It’s just recognizing that there is a great risk of being uninsured when you’re starting out in your career.”