Health Insurance Problems for Young Adults with ADD

No insurance may mean going without necessary ADHD medications.

As the unemployment rates rise, one nasty side effect of the failing job market is a lack of health insurance. Young adults--who view themselves as invincible to illness and injury--are increasingly opting to go without pricey private insurance. And for young adults with attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD), that may mean going without the ADHD medications they rely on to keep them focused.

According to a new report in The New York Times, young adults are the nation’s largest group of uninsured--there were 13.2 million of them nationally in 2007. Most family insurance policies have a cut-off age of 19 (or when a child graduates from college).

The Times cites the example of Nicole Polec, a 28-year-old freelance photographer living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who has ADHD but does not have health insurance to help her afford her prescriptions for Ritalin. Fortunately, she has a client who procures the Ritalin on her behalf from a sympathetic doctor.

Read more in The New York Times.