What Fox Doesn't Want To Admit About Young Adults And Obamacare

Written by Emily Arrowood

Published

Fox News avoided acknowledging that many young adults are anxious to sign up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act exchanges (ACA or Obamacare), even though recent surveys show that many young adults are likely to buy health insurance under new Affordable Care Act provisions.

During Fox's evening news program Special Report with Bret Baier, correspondent Jim Angle reported on this week's roll out of new state health insurance exchanges that were implemented under the ACA. After the prepared package aired, host Bret Baier asked Angle, “What do we know about the young and their inclinations to buy insurance or not?”

Angle dodged the question, instead answering, “Now we know of widespread reports their rates will soar over what they could pay now on the open market.” He concluded, “We don't know what the young will do, but we do know the numbers they're looking at.”

While Angle refused to acknowledge it, polls reveal many young adults are eager to buy health coverage. 

A Reuters poll of uninsured Americans found that one-third of young adults “said they are 'very' or 'somewhat' likely to buy insurance through their state's exchange.”

That percentage is significant because it's double the number needed to make the ACA a fiscal success by off-setting the costs of people on the exchanges who may use their health insurance more often -- people who are older or have pre-existing conditions. Reuters said of the surveyed enthusiasm:

If half of that proportion of the nation's young and healthy follow through, the White House would easily meet its goal of getting 2.7 million young adults - out of about 16 million uninsured 19-to-29-year-olds - to buy Obamacare insurance for 2014.

In June, Kaiser determined that more than seventy percent of young adults “rate having health insurance as 'very important,' and similar shares feel it is something they need and that it is worth the money.”

Angle's omission is in step with the network's coverage of the ACA, which has been relentless in demonizing the law and rooting for it to fail.