The bad news just keeps on coming for millennials. Not only are millennials more indebted than previous generations, finding it harder to find good-paying jobs and burdened by crushing amounts of debt, their health is declining faster than previous generations too. Experts fear that unless millennials get serious about their health, they could see a 40% higher mortality rate than Gen-Xers, and 33% higher treatment costs. That could have profound impacts on the US economy.
Millennials are less likely than previous generations to see doctors on a regular basis. One reason for that could be that millennials don’t see the need to see doctors, since they’re largely young and should be relatively healthy. Another could be that millennials are a lot more mobile than previous generations, bouncing from one job to the next, or from one city to another, thus making it more difficult to establish a relationship with a doctor or medical practice.
Then there’s the fact that, financially, millennials aren’t doing that great. And with the cost of health insurance rising every year, many millennials may choose not to spend on healthcare, gambling that the money they save now will be better spent on other things.
Finally, we can’t discount the effect that Obamacare may have had on millennials. Now that millennials are all grown up and have entered the workforce, most of them are no longer on their parents’ healthcare plans. Now that they’re responsible for their own healthcare, they may find that the healthcare landscape isn’t at all like the one they grew up with. The burden of finding a healthcare provider is a great one, and one which many millennials may not want to deal with.
If millennials don’t get their health taken care of, it could mean an entire generation of Americans that are unhealthy and that will burden American employers and the American healthcare system more than any generation previously. It’s yet another sign that the glory days of America are behind her and, unless Americans wake up, realize that, and take steps to counter it, these may be the best times we’ll ever see.