A feasibility study proposing an insurance co-op to provide coverage to people who cannot afford health insurance despite being mandated to have it, starting in 2014, has been initiated in Maryland.

The Maryland Nonprofit Health Insurance Co-op is focusing its attention on adults between 19 and 24 years old living between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., according to the Daily Record newspaper.

Peter Beilenson, chief health officer for Howard County, Md., and chairman of the co-op’s steering group, told the newspaper that by July, the group should know if the plan will work. He added that even  though federal health care reform, passed in March, is designed to provide affordable coverage to all Americans, some people may not have enough money to pay for coverage.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2014, every adult in the U.S. will be required to obtain health insurance or face a fine of up to 2% of household income.

Kathy Westcoat, president of Baltimore Health Care Access and a steering committee member, told the newspaper that “ideally” the co-op’s result will not be aligned with the “commercial mega-insurance company world.”