U of M Journalism students blog about young people who don

Many young people are barely scraping by and can’t afford health insurance, a problem that four University of Minnesota students highlight in a multimedia blog called "The Uninsured." (Check it out at theuninsured.blogspot.com/.) Journalism majors Kelly Gulbrandson, Randi Niklekaj, Alexandra Harkness and Jessica Mann started the blog as part of a semester-long project in a course on health and medical reporting.

Gulbrandson, a senior at the U of M, said that she and her classmates hope their work, which includes original reportage, videos, soundslides and photos, sheds light on a serious issue that too often goes unreported. Throughout the process, "It made me realize how big a problem it is. It affects so many people. If they have a mishap, they’re just out of luck," she said.

Forty percent of Americans who are in their 20s don’t have insurance, the blog states. Contrary to popular opinion, "The majority of uninsured, regardless of how young they are, say they forgo coverage because they cannot afford it, not because they don’t need it," according to the blog. Many of those who are uninsured "receive less care and experience worse conditions following an accident or the onset of a new chronic condition than those with insurance," the blog quotes from a study.

Dr. John Vener who works at Sibley Medical Center in Arlington, Minn., said in a video that people in their 20s represent a large, at-risk group, as they’re typically transitioning from high school to college to steady jobs. He vouched that not having insurance deters many young people from seeking medical help they need.

In one video, Karah Barr, a university student, confesses that she never had health insurance until attending college. (The expense is now packaged with her tuition bills, which she is able to put off paying.) But when Barr was growing up, she and her mother did everything they could to avoid getting sick (like trying to stay fit and eating plenty of vegetables, she remarks).

"I pretty much just went to the doctor for sports," she said, noting that athletes are forewarned about potential costly injuries. An ambulance ride alone is $1,000, she said. She has managed to remain pretty healthy, but at times she worried about becoming a burden in the case that anything bad happened to her.

U of M student Joy Petersen, who no longer qualifies for her parents’ coverage, pointed out that not having insurance is the price she pays to eat. That doesn’t mean she isn’t concerned about it, but “I don’t have enough money to pay $118 a month when it means the difference between just in case you get hurt and just in case you want to eat," she said.