The graduation gap

Young adults are the fastest-growing segment of the uninsured.

"The rate of uninsurance is disproportionately high among young adults, just as they graduate high school and college," said Kathleen Thiede Call, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health who tracks these numbers.

Among those between 22 and 30 with no college degree, 22 percent -- that's 76,500 Minnesotans -- were uninsured in 2007, according to the state Department of Health. Of those in that age group with college degrees, about 6.7 percent, or 12,000 people, were uninsured.

Worried about the trend, Minnesota passed a law last year requiring some health plans to keep dependents on their parents' plans up to age 25, whether or not they're full-time students. It became effective Jan. 1. Before that, kids were dropped at 18 unless they were studying full time.

But the new law only applies to the 27 percent of Minnesotans who buy coverage directly in the individual market or work for small and medium-sized employers.

That leaves out the 40 percent of Minnesotans who get coverage from large, self-insured employers and those working for the state. Both groups are exempt from the law. These employers can choose to offer the same perk to their employees, but insurance company executives say most are not doing so.

The remaining 33 percent of Minnesotans are covered by federal and state programs, or are uninsured.

New graduates can opt for a short-term plan, such as the one Schumacher was on, which has the advantage of being immediately available. But these don't cover pre-existing conditions and are limited to 365 days during a 555-day period. That can be a tough call for those who are not sure when they're going to land a job.

Young and invincible

New grads fall into a category marketers call the "young invincibles," those who believe they'll never land in a hospital and see insurance premiums as money down the drain each month.

To attract this group, all the major health insurers in Minnesota have launched new products with monthly premiums that start under $100. These typically don't cover maternity costs and come with a deductible of several thousand dollars, sweetened with some upfront benefits, such as a couple of hundred dollars in preventive care.

Last year, Blue Cross Blue Shield was the first in the market with Simply Blue, with monthly premiums for nonsmokers in their 20s starting at $87.50.

That's about half the lowest premium for a richer, traditional plan in the individual insurance market. Blue Cross won't disclose the number of Simply Blue members, but says sales have exceeded internal projections.

Medica launched its rival Solo product at the State Fair last summer. The number of Solo members has doubled to 2,000 since March, with new graduates accounting for much of the increase, said Craig Ashby, Medica's director of individual products.

Last month, HealthPartners began its "Three for Free" plan targeting the same demographic. It features three free doctor's office visits and $250 toward an emergency room visit. By year's end, PreferredOne plans to launch "PreferredOne For One," with its own twist: unlimited free visits to retail clinics.

Often, it's the parents who push their kids to get insurance, since they're the ones hit with a big bill if their kid gets sick and can't afford to pay for it.

Ann Kahn, 24, spent a year after college in a bunch of odd jobs, including working in a toy store and acting in public-service plays in schools. During that time, most of her friends went without insurance. But her mother, a personal injury lawyer, wasn't having any of that. She signed Kahn up for two stints of short-term coverage followed by a Simply Blue plan.

"She's seen enough cases where the one day you don't have insurance is the one day you get hit by a car," said Kahn, who is now in law school.

Medica's Solo brochure initially featured a guy with his tongue stuck to a pole in winter, with the line: "Before omg lol turns to er asap."

Medica marketers knew young people would get it, but they were worried that parents -- often the ones paying the premiums -- wouldn't. Medica soon changed the slogan to the more parent-friendly "Before double dare becomes urgent care."

Ultimate backup: Dr. Mom

Whatever the message, they've yet to convince people such as Reed Daniels of St. Paul.

Daniels, 25, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison two years ago and was briefly insured at his first job, at a bank. Now he works for a small business that doesn't offer health insurance.

That doesn't faze him. "This is the time in your life when you should be healthiest," Daniels said.

A day after he talked to a reporter about that, Daniels sprained his ankle playing softball. He headed to the only place where he still gets free care: Mom's. She bandaged him up.

"I'm not going to spend $1,000 on a sprained ankle," he said. After all, he can still walk on it, so he doesn't think it's broken.

Chen May Yee • 612-673-7434 Emma L. Carew • 612-673-7405