Almost a third of those who have signed up on Connecticut's health care exchange so far are in the coveted under-35 demographic. The exchange has been operating for just over a week. By Tuesday, the exchange had processed just over 1,400 applications.
Exchange CEO Kevin Counihan said 29 percent are between the ages of 18 and 34. "Obviously," he said, "we're all interested in making sure that the risk pool is as balanced as it can be, and this is a very good start to that. You know, we're not out of the woods on this by any means, but we're in a good place."
Young people are important to the exchanges, because they're usually healthier, so they help to balance the risk of older, more expensive applicants. Counihan said just under half of applicants so far have opted for the mid-level, silver tier plans.
