Do young people decline to get insurance because they can't imagine they'll get sick or injured?

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund questions that assumption--and sets the table for interesting discussions about healthcare reform as the general eletion (remains) poised to begin.

So why don't high school and college grads have insurance?

Short answer, according to the report: It's too expensive; their coverage under parents' policies usually expires at 19, or 23 for those who remain full-time students; and they often have low-pay or part-time jobs that don't offer insurance.

And this is a drain on the healthcare system, too. Here's why:

• 14 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 are obese. Obesity leads to expensive, chronic conditions that can require immediate treatment--including high blood pressure
  
• There are 3.5 million pregnancies each year among the 21 million women ages 19 to 29.17. Obese young women often face high-risk pregnancies.
  
• One-third of all HIV diagnoses are made among young adults.
• Injury-related visits to emergency rooms are far more common among young adults than among either children or older adults.
• More than 20,000 people with congenital heart disease reach their 19th birthday each year.

When young people are uninsured, they either face bills they can't pay, require uncompensated care by hospitals and clinics or drain their parents' financial resources.

The Democrat candidates in the race as of this writing have proposals to address insurance for young adults. John McCain's does not.

Hillary Clinton's universal care program would apply to all young adults as well.

Barack Obama would permit coverage under parents' plans to cover adults to the age of 25. 

Republican John McCain's healthcare proposal is silent on the issue of insurance for young adults.