It's so easy to be cynical about government. The year-end tax stalemates, the debt-ceiling and spending fights.

Yet look around New Mexico and you might see some of the young adults who have benefited from what Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed into law. It is championed as the Affordable Care Act — or ridiculed as Obamacare. Either way, it is an example of government at work.

One aspect of the law now in place allows parents with private health insurance to keep children covered on their policy until age 26. Nothing is free, and almost all the increase in cost comes through private insurance. So parents are paying for this coverage just as they do for younger kids or spouses.

But at a time of recession, the percentage of people age 19 to 25 without health insurance has declined to 29 percent from 34 percent before the law was in place, according the Employee Benefit Institute. A researcher for the institute says if unemployment were at 4 percent and young people were finding jobs, the jump would make sense. The only explanation for more young people enjoying the safety net of health insurance is the new law.

"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 2.5 million more young adults don't have to live with fear and uncertainty of going without health insurance," Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, told Tribune Media Services.

Keep in mind this is the same generation that has seen college debt skyrocket as the job market stalled. Most of these young adults probably are not thinking of health insurance — they can't afford it and they don't think they will get sick, anyway. But their parents are. "Moms and dads around the country can breathe a little easier knowing their children are covered," Sebelius added.

New Mexico had some of these provisions in place already so people here may not see the full impact of the change. As a tourist destination, though, Santa Fe will see these newly insured adults traveling our highways and on our ski hills. If they get hurt and end up in the emergency room in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, their health insurance company will pay for the services, not the local facility or county indigent fund. That helps us all.

It was just a year ago when many new conservative members of the U.S. Congress were elected vowing to "Repeal and Replace" the Affordable Care Act.

The fact that such a repeal is not happening is a testament to the new constituency of Americans who now have private health insurance — and their parents, who come from every state and both political parties.