Perceptions of Health Care and Access to Preventive Services Among Young Adults

Abstract

The enactment of the Affordable Care Act increased the emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention by making preventive care accessible for many Americans, especially young adults, who could remain on their parents or legal guardians' health insurance until the age of 26. Yet, many Americans receive only half of the recommended preventive care services, which highlight the need for the improvement of health promotion and prevention services. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship among access to health care insurance, perceptions about health insurance, and use of preventive care services among young adults. Nine hundred and forty-six participants ages 19-34 completed a 40 question web-based survey. Data analysis suggested that while the majority of participants had health insurance, there were significant differences in opinions about the ACA, health insurance, and use of preventive services by gender, education level, and health insurance status. Overall, participants with health insurance were more likely to have received at least three of the basic preventive care services; however, most of them were not getting the preventive care as recommended. Results reaffirm the need for further studies on the impact of health insurance among young adults and the need for the emphasis on health promotion to educate young adults about the importance of disease prevention and preventive services.

Keywords: Access to health care; Health promotion; Preventive services.