By Asha Richardson and Nick Bellizzi

When the health care bill passed through the House of Representatives, it included an amendment restricting abortion coverage under subsidized insurance plans. As the Senate now debates its language for the health care bill, abortion continues to be a controversial issue.

Pro-lifers say that the health insurance abortion restriction, known as the Stupak amendment, is just an extension of the Medicaid abortion restriction that already exists, known as the Hyde amendment. Pro-choicers, on the other hand, contend that the Stupak amendment is much more invasive. At Slate.com, William Saletan writes that by mixing public and private health care, Democrats have linked abortion more strongly to taxation. In other words, if pro-lifers can't keep their tax money from paying for abortions, they'll fight to keep coverage of abortions out of the health care bill.

If the Stupak amendment makes it through the Senate, abortions would not be covered for anyone who gets health insurance through Medicaid, forcing people to pay out-of-pocket for abortions. How much do you think an abortion costs? Check out this Youth Radio video to see what young people in Oakland thought:

 Previously:

By: Emily Beaver

This week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that under a health reform bill in the House of Representatives, young adults could stay insured under their parents' plans through age 26.

Members of Y.I. Want Change, a coalition of youth organizations formed by the Young Invincibles health reform advocacy group, and their supporters stood with Pelosi when she made the announcement at a press conference. The reform could be an important victory for young people.

"It's important because as young people graduate from college and are struggling to find jobs in this economy, they need to have coverage and this provides them with an option," said Chrissy Faessen, vice president of communications and marketing for Rock the Vote. The organization is a member of the Y.I. Want Change coalition.

Right now, about 25 states allow young people to stay on their parents' plans into their 20s. But in other states, young adults get dropped from their parents' private health insurance plans, usually between ages 19 and 22. At age 19, most young people no longer qualify for Medicaid, a government health insurance program that provides coverage for very low-income children and parents.

By: Emily Beaver

For many young people, health insurance is unaffordable. But under some plans to reform health care, going without health insurance will be expensive, too.

Senator Max Baucus recently introduced a health care reform plan that requires everyone to get insurance. Anyone who doesn't have insurance would be fined up to $950 a year, depending on income.

Making sure everyone gets health insurance is an important goal of many of the plans to reform health care. For some, the principle that everyone should have health care is behind the "individual mandate" requiring everyone to get health insurance. But there's another reason lawmakers want to get everyone insured--to lower the government's cost of making health insurance affordable.

All forms of insurance, including health insurance, work by spreading costs among a pool of people. Since young people generally spend less on medical care, their insurance premiums help to subsidize the cost of care for older, sicker people. When young people don't buy insurance, costs go up for those who are insured. So making sure everyone contributes to health insurance is important to lowering costs overall.

Senator Baucus' reform bill does offer a few benefits for young people. His plan would allow some low-income young people to get insurance under the government's Medicaid program, which has been closed to young adults who don't have children.

The bill would also create a "young invincibles" health care plan available to Americans age 25 and younger, which would cover emergency medical and preventive care only.

By: Emily Beaver

By: Emily Beaver

What’s age got to do with it?

Well, when it comes to what you pay for health insurance -- age is important.

Age-rating, or using age to determine how much someone pays for health insurance, has recently been getting a lot of press. And like much of the health care debate, age-rating is turning into a battle between the older and younger generations.

What’s the fight over? Changing age-rating practices could lead to lower insurance premiums for older adults, but higher premiums for younger adults.

Usually private insurance companies charge older adults more for health insurance than younger adults. As people age, they generally have more health problems and spend more on health care services. The system seems fair—the people who use the most services pay the highest premiums.

Well, not everyone agrees. Some people and groups that advocate for older adults say age-rating isn’t fair because people can’t help aging. And age isn’t the only indicator of health, they say. An active, 52-year-old may be healthier than a 30-year-old who lives on cheese fries, Diet Coke and cigarettes.

By: Emily Beaver

Maybe you've heard President Obama talking about reforming health care or seen TV news reports about people protesting recent town hall meetings. But if you think health care reform doesn't impact you, it's time to tune into the debate.

One goal of health care reform is making sure that everyone can get health insurance, including young people. About 30% of Americans ages 19-24 don't have insurance, and one in seven teens doesn't have insurance, says Claire Brindis, Director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at University of California, San Francisco.

Many young people aren't covered by their parents' health plans, don't get insurance at work, can't afford to buy insurance or simply don't think they'll get sick. But if you get sick or injured when you're uninsured, you might not get the medical care you need or you may go into debt because of medical bills.