well yes, and no
26 year olds may be pretty healthy, at least statistically speaking, but 26 year old women, in general, also make use of contraceptive, family planning, pregancy and abortion services, and probably more so than older women and they are all mandates that an employer’s plan must cover under Obama care, so they are also costs that an employers plan may not have covered before and covered before or not they must now be extended for dependent children to age 26, when they might have been dropped by the plan previously once the child was out of college, if not even out of high school
I have read where some employers are planning on dropping “family” coverage altogethe due to Obamacare mandates; insuring the employee only in order to at least preserve coverage for the employee instead of ending their plan entirely.
Frankly, when I was growing up (and we were poor) my dad was the only one my parents had medical insurance coverage on, because he also represented the biggest financial risk due to a major accident or illness. In the rare events that my siblings or I (8 all together) needed any special medical attention, they just paid the bill. Given the rarity of those events, I am sure they saved a ton over what years of “family” coverage premiums would have cost, if dad’s employers even offered them.
Insurance is highly over rated and savings are not just under rated, they’re not even encourged - just borrow or insure (send money to someone else every month, don’t pile up your own nest egg for emergencies, and maybe even have some left over if emergencies are few).
It’s all been great for the fiancial services industry, as well as the extravagent health care industry that hasn’t added any productivity gains to their work in my life time; and I am not convinced it has been great for most American households.
Everyone got jacked regardless of age.