Among the millennial generation, one of the top issues of concern is health care.

According to a Reason-Rupe survey, millennials listed the economy, health care and jobs as the top three issues that matters most to them. While the economy ranked first with 28 percent, health care -- or Obamacare -- placed second with 18 percent, ahead of jobs' 16 percent.

When it comes to health care, the report noted that two-thirds of millennials surveyed have health insurance, but a third do not. Among millennials with health insurance, a third received it from their employer while 19 percent individually purchased health plans. Five percent of millennials with insurance obtained it from their college or university. Most of the millennials have health insurance under their parents' plans.

Also known as Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has heavily impacted millennials. Of millennials without health insurance, 44 percent stated they would rather face the federal fine than apply for an insurance policy. In July, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the maximum penalty for an individual without health insurance this year is $2,448. For families with five or more members, the maximum fine can go up to $12,240, up to 1 percent of taxable income.

So the $2,448 penalty only affects an individual with an income of $244,800. The penalty of $12,240 only affects families making a combined yearly income of $1.2 million. People who have an income of less than $19,650 are fined a flat fee of $95 per year. There is no penalty for people with incomes lower than $10,150.

More than half of millennials do plan on obtaining a policy.

"While millennials are more supportive of the ACA than opposed, they do not support all of its components. Millennials are unwilling to pay more for health insurance in order to help provide coverage to the uninsured, 55 percent to 43 percent," the survey noted.

The millennials' support of the ACA is closely aligned to support for President Barack Obama. When it comes to Democrats, independents and non-white millennials, disapproval towards Obama corresponds with unfavorable views of the ACA and vice versa.

Millennials who independently pay for their health insurance oppose paying more to provide health coverage to uninsured people. Millennials who don't pay for their health insurance but are on their parents' policy stated they favor paying more.

"In other words, millennials' support for redistributive health insurance reforms depends on whether they personally will be held responsible for the cost to provide for others," the Reason-Rupe survey added. "While they support the idea of providing for the uninsured, they are not willing to shoulder the cost."

According to overall government figures, 8 million people have signed up for insurance either on Healthcare.gov or through a U.S. state's exchange website. The Commonwealth Fund reported the ACA led to 20 million Americans gaining health insurance. The report noted 7.8 million were people under 26 years old who are covered by their parents' plans, eight million applied through the market exchanges and five million purchased insurance directly from an insurer.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the Affordable Care Act could provide up to 10.2 million uninsured Latinos with affordable health insurance coverage. As Latin Post reported, HHS received a lower than projected number of applicants that reported their race or ethnicity as "Latino," which represented 10.7 percent of individuals enrolled. In comparison to Whites, they represented the largest proportion with 62.9 percent.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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