Washington, U.S.A. — Generation Opportunity, one of the largest groups in America engaging and mobilizing young adults, or Millennials, on the important economic issues facing the nation in 2012 and beyond, has unveiled its newest social media platform.

The Facebook page, “We Like Small Government,” fosters debate on the appropriate size and scope of government, the impact high taxes and more regulations have on job creation, and the importance of economic opportunity and individual freedom. The page has already amassed over 400,000 fans and surges Generation Opportunity’s total fan base to well over 4 million young adults.

“Every day, young Americans search for meaningful, full-time jobs in a career of their choice and, instead, experience first-hand the stark reality imposed by the poor economy – high unemployment and overall lack of economic opportunity. Rather than resorting to pessimism, however, young adults are taking a harder look at who and what is creating barriers to economic opportunity.

“Increasingly, they identify elected officials and policies that result in more government interference with employers and overreach in the private sector and small businesses as a prime source of the lack of economic opportunity. As they continue to deal with the highest sustained unemployment since World War II, Millennials have definitely concluded that government intervention in the economy is the problem, not the solution,” said Paul T. Conway, president of Generation Opportunity and former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Labor.

“In an effort to change the status quo, young adults are determined to organize and mobilize themselves on the principle that people, not government, are the creative source of opportunity and that America needs to be placed on a better path forward.”

Earlier this month, Generation Opportunity released the non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) unemployment data for Millennials for July 2012:

• The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically for July 2012 is 12.7 percent (NSA).
• The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans for July 2012 is 22.3 percent(NSA); the youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics for July 2012 is 14.0 percent(NSA); and the youth unemployment rate for 18–29 year old women for July 2012 is 12.6 percent(NSA).
• The declining labor participation rate has created an additional 1.715 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by U.S. Department of Labor (BLS) because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
• If the labor force participation rate were factored into the 18-29 youth unemployment calculation, the actual 18-29-unemployment rate would rise to  16.7 percent (NSA).

Generation Opportunity commissioned a poll with the polling company, inc./WomanTrend (April 16 – 22, 2011, +/- 4% margin of error) and a highlighted result for all young Americans ages 18-29 appears below:

Millennials – Economic Growth and Government:

• Only 31% of those 18-29 approve of Obama’s handling of the youth unemployment.
• 53% believe lowering business taxes increase hiring.
• 59% believe the economy grows when people are allowed to create business without government interference.
• 69% of 18-29 year-olds prefer reducing federal spending over raising personal taxes to balance the budget

Millennials – Delayed Dreams from a Poor Economy and the Lack of Opportunity:

• 77% of young people ages 18-29 either have or will delay a major life change or purchase due to economic factors:

• 44% delay buying a home;
• 28% delay saving for retirement;
• 27% delay paying off student loans or other debt;
• 27% delay going back to school/getting more education or training;
• 26% delay changing jobs/cities;
• 23% delay starting a family;
• 18% delay getting married.

About Generation Opportunity
Generation Opportunity is a non-profit, non-partisan 501 (c)(4) organization that seeks to engage everyone from young adults, to early career professionals, college students, young mothers and fathers, construction workers, current service men and women, veterans, entrepreneurs, and all Americans who find themselves dissatisfied with the status quo and willing to create a better tomorrow.

Generation Opportunity operates on a strategy that combines advanced social media tactics with proven field tactics to reach Americans 18-29. The organization’s social media platforms – “Being American by GO,” “The Constitution by GO,” “Gas Prices Are Too Damn High,” “Lower Taxes by GO,” “Keep Texas Awesome,” “Jersey Proud,” and “We Like Small Government” on Facebook – have amassed a total fan base of more than 4 million.

The pages post links to relevant articles and reports from sources ranging from the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO), to The New York Times , The Washington Post, The Brookings Institution, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Heritage Foundation.

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In Part One of Toonari’s Affordable Care Act series, we gave an overview of the law’s structure. In Part Two, we will begin to review the benefits as stated in the law, and their possible implications. The provisions we will review first are two that will be at the forefront of the President’s campaign stump speeches. These are benefits related to children and preexisting conditions.
Children Can Stay On

Before the 2008 recession, this is a benefit that would not have been a big deal for most parents. In the wake of the recession and Millennials moving back home in droves, it has become a more frequent problem. Before the ACA, children could remain on their parent’s health insurance plans until some time between age 21 and 24; it varied from state to state.

Now under the ACA, children can remain on their parents plan until age 26. This is something that many parents like, and sounds good on the campaign trail. For parents with kids with serious, ongoing chronic illnesses this also relieves, in theory, some of the stress of approaching health care costs. This is a catch gap designed to be a bridge between now, and when the preexisting condition benefits kick-in, in 2014.

Implications

The consequences of this change are minute. It is true that some people have a philosophical problem with what could be seen as further coddling of young adults, the reality is the difference between 24 and 26 is small. Keeping kids on the parent’s plans for a couple of extra years does increase the risk of higher and more medical payouts for the insurance companies, but most people at age 26 do not go to the doctor that often. In addition, the parents still have to pay the extra premium they were paying for their kids remaining on their plan for a few more years.

That is added income to the insurance company. Basically this is a wash. The one caveat to this is that one of the benefits mandated by the ACA (more in this later in the series) is the coverage of birth control costs with no co-pay. Young adults are typically more sexually active so there will be an increase in costs to the insurance company for that benefit, which will force an increase in premiums from the insurance company.

Premium increases are a subject we will return to again and again in this series about the ACA law. It is important to remember; health insurance companies do not have the power to tax the public. They pay their claims out of the earnings they make. When their expenses go up, they must charge more. This is not a matter of evil intentions. It is basic business 101. You must charge enough to cover your expenses. If expenses go up, then so must your prices.

Pre-existing Conditions

This is the big one. The issue that pulls the most heart strings, and the one that most people agree upon. Starting in 2014 there will be no preexisting conditions limitations for anyone. Before the law, if you had a preexisting condition and were not on an employee health care plan, you would be denied coverage. The reason for this is simple. If you have diabetes, then you are a guaranteed expense for the insurance company.

Insurance is all about minimizing risk to cover as many people as possible, for as little as possible. That basic tenant of insurance planning is now off the table. Cancer, AIDS, asthma, congenital conditions, previous surgeries; it is unimportant what the condition is, you can now get coverage.

Implications

The possible and real implications for this are huge. On the consumer side, you do not have to worry about being denied coverage. The days of worrying about choosing bankruptcy over health care are now ostensibly over. On the insurance side, the costs will skyrocket. It is easy for many to say, “Life before profits, or money” but that is because they are not the ones writing the check to cover the costs. One of the main selling points politically was that the ACA would reduce costs of health insurance and health care expenses.

This is one component of the law that makes that claim hard to reach. Millions of people who are very sick will now have coverage. This is a good thing. However, this will prove to be a bad thing fiscally. As the law settles in (assuming an Obama victory in November), costs for premiums and actual care will move up under the law. At some point cost containment measures will have to be looked at, which could mean rationing of care.

The other implication is that many Americans will opt not to buy insurance and just pay the penalty, because it is less money then annual premiums for the insurance. If they do get sick, or need an expensive surgery, they can just sign up for the coverage after they find out what they need. The scenario painted by conservatives is the picture of a person signing up for the plan in an ambulance on the patient’s way to a hospital.

The image is extreme, but it is also true. A person can do that. The law has no provisions in it to keep people from waiting till they know they need to sign up, and then dropping coverage once the medical situation is treated.

This will also have an effect of increasing costs, but also limiting the funds necessary to run the plan, as those missing premiums will affect the balance sheets of the insurance companies and cause higher premiums.

In our next installment, we will review the health care cost limitations, and preventative care provisions.

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Zipcar, the world’s leading car-sharing network, recently released its second annual independent study of Millennials (18-34-year-olds), which examines this generation’s attitudes toward personal transportation and car ownership.

The Zipcar membership base ranges in age from 18 to 80s; however, Millennials are an important segment for Zipcar, comprising more than half of all members. Millennials account for about 23 percent of the general population, according to the 2010 US Census.

The study, conducted in October 2011 by KRC Research, reveals that 55 percent of Millennials surveyed have actively made an effort to drive less, up 10 percentage points from 45 percent in 2010, highlighting the growing trend of consciously reducing road time.

Some of the factors that Millennials cite for driving less frequently include environmental concerns, total cost of vehicle ownership and an increased use of social media. More than half of Millennials surveyed stated “protecting the environment” as one key reason for driving less, also up 10 percentage points from 45 percent last year.

The study also reveals that more than three quarters (78 percent) of 18-34-year-old respondents who are licensed drivers say car ownership is difficult due to high costs of gas, parking and maintenance. In contrast to other age cohorts, social media is increasingly another factor for Millennials driving less.

Sixty-eight percent of 18-34-year-olds, up 14 percentage points from 54 percent in 2010, agree that they sometimes choose to use social media rather than go out to see friends and family. ”In our second year of this survey, we continue to see dramatic shifts in how Millennials think about personal transportation, the environment and social media,” said Scott Griffith, chairman and CEO of Zipcar.

“One trend is abundantly clear: Millennials welcome the collaborative consumption movement with open arms, which we believe points to strong adoption of car sharing as a mainstream transportation solution for this influential segment of the population.”

“Policy makers should also take notice and accept that our youngest generation will not think about transportation the way we have for the last hundred years, nor will future generations,” continued Griffith. ”Our most forward-looking policy makers are thinking about housing, land use, highways, bridges and gas taxes like its 2015 rather than 1971.

It is my hope that these thought leaders will inspire a broader dialogue on mobility policy instead of sticking with an outdated transportation policy that directs limited funds almost exclusively toward highways.” Compared to older generations, Millennials participate in and are more open to collaborative consumption programs, such as media, car and home or vacation sharing.

More than half of Millennials, or 53 percent, indicated they would likely partake in a car-sharing service, like Zipcar. The study found that Millennials still value the mobility factor and convenience of driving but increasingly seek and use alternatives to personally owning a car.

This study included 1,045 adults, age 18 and over, with 987 licensed drivers. Conducted between Oct. 24 and Oct. 27, 2011, the online study utilized data weighted by the demographic variable to match the national Census. Full study and results can be viewed online.

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