Healthcare Access Among Young Adults: Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Young Adults With Hypertension

Introduction The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provision implemented policies to improve coverage for young adults. It is not known if it affected access to care among young adults with hypertension. Methods National Health Interview Survey data from 2006 to 2009 and 2011 to 2014 were used. Young adults aged 19–25 years were assessed for potential barriers to access to health care. The authors compared the percentage of each indicator of barriers to access to health care among young adults in general, as well as those with hypertension in the two time periods and estimated the AOR. All data were self-reported. The analyses were conducted in 2016. Results Among young adults, the frequencies of barrier indicators were significantly lower in 2011–2014 than 2006–2009, except “did not see doctor in the past 12 months.” Among those with hypertension, the percentage reporting “no health insurance” (31.3% vs 23.3%, p =0.037); “no place to see a doctor when needed” (30.5% vs 21.6%, p =0.031); or “cannot afford prescribed medicine” (23.0% vs 15.3%, p =0.023) were significantly lower in 2011–2014 compared with that of 2006–2009. The differences maintained statistical significance after adjusting for sex, race/ethnicity, and level of education. Conclusions Significant differences in select access to care measures were found among young adults with hypertension between 2006–2009 and 2011–2014, as was found among young adults generally. Changes in extension of dependent insurance coverage in 2010 may have led to improvements in access to care among this group.