Trending News Today: Enrollment of Millennials in Affordable Care Act Marketplaces Lagging

Affordable Care Act marketplaces may be failing due to a lack of enrollment by younger Americans, often called millennials. Despite outreach by many celebrities, younger individuals (18- to 34-years-old) only comprise 30% of people enrolled in health plans from Affordable Care Act marketplaces, according to Politico. The goal was to enroll 40% of this population to successfully offset costs from older and typically sicker individuals.

A recent study suggests that treatment from physicians may depend on their political views. Republican and Democratic physicians responded very differently to hypothetical scenarios regarding treatment decisions that involved politically charged issues, according to The Washington Post. Researchers found that Republicans were concerned regarding abortions and marijuana use in their patients, while Democrats were concerned about firearm access and sexual relations with sex workers.

Many older Americans with health insurance through Medicare are not receiving treatment after a diagnosis of leukemia, likely due to high initial costs. Between 2007 and 2011, nearly one-third of the 400 Medicare patients diagnosed with leukemia did not start treatment within 6 months of diagnosis. However, patients who received subsidies were quicker to start the treatment than those who did not, according to The Washington Post.