'Don't Insure Me, Bro!': Why Obamacare Critics Focus on Young Dudes

In January, one of Obamacare's most controversial provisions will come into effect: Every person in America will be required to either have health insurance or pay a penalty. Overall, the effect will likely be a net positive: Because of subsidies, the cost of insurance will be kept down for many households, and in many states, a Medicaid expansion will help even more families pay for their healthcare. But while the outlook is great for millions of workers, things are going to be tougher for at least one group: healthy, financially secure men in their twenties.

So, guess which group Obamacare critics have focused on when they attack the effects of the program? I'll give you three guesses, but you'll probably only need one.

On Wednesday, New York magazine's Jonathan Chait pointed out the surprising trend, noting that critics of the Affordable Care Act have almost universally cited the group in their attacks. Likening the move to an old-time patent medicine show ("You, sir - the healthy 25-year-old in front who has never been hospitalized or needed medication in his life! Step right up!"), he suggested that the attacks on Obamacare are, to put it mildly, skewed.

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On the surface, targeting the law's impact on healthy 25-year-old men seems like a masterstroke. After all, it's hard to argue for the fairness of a system that charges healthy young people to pay for the health care needs of sickly older ones. The trouble is, today's healthy 25-year-old male could easily become tomorrow's hit-and-run victim, desperately in need of long-term medical care. And, barring that, today's healthy 20-something will, with any luck, become a less-healthy 50-something, in need of an affordable method to cover his medications and regular doctor's visits.

(Or, as happened to me when I was an uninsured man in my mid-20s, today's healthy young 25-year-old could be tomorrow's guy paying out-of-pocket for wisdom teeth extraction.)

Obamacare has numerous provisions that will extend coverage and make health insurance cheaper. Among other things, it will help cover the Medicare Part D coverage gap, will end exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and will require health care plans to cover preventative care. For tens of millions of people, these provisions, and others, will translate into lower medical costs, a previously unimaginable access to health care, and a generally improved quality of life. Given the huge potential benefits, maybe it's time for Obamacare's critics to stop shedding crocodile tears for the relatively small portion of the populace that is going to have to take one for the team -- and, in the process, get insurance that may well make them safer and healthier.

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Bruce Watson is DailyFinance's Savings editor. You can reach him by e-mail at bruce.watson@teamaol.com, or follow him on Twitter at @bruce1971.