The number of young adults without health insurance rose again in 2006, so 38 percent of high school graduates and 34 percent of college graduates will spend some time uninsured in the year after graduation, a new report shows. ‘We’ve been tracking this since 2003, and every year we’ve done the study, the number of uninsured has grown,’ said report co-author Sara Collins, an assistant vice president at the Commonwealth Fund. There were 13.7 million Americans aged 19 to 29 without health insurance in 2006, up from 13.3 million in 2005, according to the latest federal data, the report said. ‘There are a couple of transition periods when you turn 19,’ Collins said. ‘Many health insurance programs won’t cover you as a child, and also when you graduate from college.’ Public programs such as Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program end coverage at the age of 19. ‘Voluntary employer-provided insurance is tied to the ability to get a job, and the jobs available to young people tend to be those that don’t carry benefits,’ Collins said. While young people are less likely to need health care, ‘they do use the health-care system,’ she […]