When President Trump took office, he made it clear that he wanted to move quickly to repeal Obamacare, and replace it with something better. For now, that’s TBD. Millennial women — who are at the age where access to reproductive care is more relevant than ever — are paying close attention.
In the seven years since the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) was signed into law, it has been in the spotlight. Dems acknowledge it could use some upgrades. Republicans think it could use a complete teardown. In May, the House of Representatives voted to do just that by passing the American Health Care Act (aka Trumpcare). If it were to become law, it would bring a serious overhaul to the healthcare system. Again.
theSkimm, in partnership with YouGov, surveyed a representative sample of Americans, including more than 500 millennial women (ages 22–35) to see where they stand on the current healthcare system — and the policy debate about how to change it. They have opinions.
But they don’t have positive vibes about the US healthcare system. And here’s why…
Some of these women chose to go without coverage, but far more found themselves SOL because of loopholes, costs, or employment status. That forced them to make some tough choices: paying for health care coverage or providing for themselves and their families.
Even though this demo is younger and healthier, many of them still live in fear of being buried in debt from a health care procedure.
Millennial women are also less likely than the average American to know how much they’re paying for insurance. Among those who are insured, just 39% know how much their deductibles are, compared with 52% of the rest of the population.
Hear more from our Skimm’rs here…
Birth control is hugely important to this demo, which shows why they have such a big stake in the ongoing policy debate.
Millennial women are also twice as likely as the general population to either have taken Plan B themselves (16% vs 6% gen pop) or know someone who has (31% vs 15% gen pop). While only 7% of millennial women report having had an abortion, one-third (34%) say they know someone who has.
Here’s what they had to say…
Hear more from our Skimm’rs here…
Millennial women are concerned about threats to their reproductive rights under the Trump administration. Just 14% say they’re excited about the bill that was passed by the House. This group feels that Obamacare is just too expensive — and they especially don’t like the individual mandate.
On the flip side, exactly half (50%) are concerned about the bill that was passed by the House. Here’s what those women are especially worried about…
And they’re taking action.
Here’s what some of them have to say…
Hear more from our Skimm’rs here…
Health care is an issue that hits home for every American. That is especially true for millennial women. They believe the healthcare system needs to change, and are acutely aware of what’s at stake for them in the current policy debate.
To better understand perceptions around health care issues, theSkimm partnered with YouGov to collect data from a representative sample of 2,343 Americans between April 14th and April 18th, 2017 (including 299 female millennials between the ages of 22–35), and 2,249 Americans between May 12th and May 16th (including 295 female millennials between the ages of 22–35). Both samples were weighted to reflect the general population 18 years and older (including their political views), and has a margin of error of +/- 2 points at the 95% confidence level for all adults, and +/- 2 to 6 points for female millennials.
theSkimm also spoke with many of its own female millennial Skimm’rs between the ages of 22–35 and have included their quotes and their voices here.
theSkimm is a media company that makes it easier to live smarter. With an engaged community of more than 5 million active subscribers, theSkimm is fundamentally changing the way female millennials consume news and information. The company started with the Daily Skimm, the fastest growing email newsletter on the market, and has expanded to include theSkimm app, which debuted at #1 in news and #9 overall in the Apple App Store; Skimm Studios, video content development; and Skimm Studies, a marketing tool used for brands.
Skimm Studies is a data-driven research product that makes it easier for marketers to be smarter about engaging with the female millennial demographic.
theSkimm’s No Excuses series is getting millennial women informed on the issues driving the national conversation in 2017. The second one is focused on health care. See it here.
