One in six young adults handle no basic healthcare tasks

Clinical takeaway: Don't assume young adult patients who communicate well in the visit can navigate care outside it. Early adult visits are a natural point to coach basics on scheduling, insurance, and when to seek care.

Turning 18 makes patients legally responsible for their own healthcare, but the skills required to navigate it rarely arrive with that birthday. Parents reported in a national survey that most young adults aged 18 to 25 can handle the visit itself, communicating with providers and following instructions afterward. But far fewer of them schedule appointments or recognize when care is needed. One in six handle no basic healthcare tasks at all.

The gap persists partly because the system keeps parents in the loop. Under the Affordable Care Act, young adults can stay on a parent's insurance plan until age 26, so many in this group have never selected a plan, checked a network, or handled a claim. Yet once a patient turns 18, clinicians cannot share records or speak with parents without the patient's permission. The legal handoff is abrupt even when the financial one is not.

Roughly seven in 10 parents said their young adult communicates with providers during visits (71%) and follows instructions afterward (71%), but the share dropped for providing insurance and family history (56%), scheduling appointments (52%), and deciding when a visit is needed at all (49%).

Barriers, where parents named one, pointed to skill rather than attitude: lack of knowledge (27%) and not enough practice (25%) outranked immaturity (16%) or unwillingness (15%).

The Mott Poll surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,550 parents of 18-to-25-year-olds in February, asking which of six basic healthcare tasks the young adult mainly handles alone. All findings reflect parent report, not young adults' own accounts.

The heaviest lift falls on patients with ongoing conditions. Some parents cited their young adult's mental health (37%) or chronic medical conditions (20%) as a source of current or potential health problems, and these are the patients for whom a missed refill or an unscheduled follow-up carries real cost. Before the transfer from pediatric to adult care, that patient should be able to name their condition, their medications, how to obtain refills, and their follow-up schedule without a parent prompting.

"Parents don't have to hand over responsibility all at once. The goal is to gradually shift routine healthcare tasks to teens so they gain confidence, make informed decisions and build these skills over time," said Sarah Clark, MPH, co-director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

Source: Clark S. C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. 2026 Jul 27. Handing over responsibility for health and healthcare