Posted by Molly Miller, AACF Intern on July 28th 2010
As my college graduation looms in the not-so-distant future, I find myself pondering things like where I am going to live, whether or not I will be able to find a job in this economy, and whether or not I should take a year off or go straight to graduate school. Luckily for me, the recent passage of health care reform means that I don't have to worry about how I will be able to afford insurance. A provision in the new healthcare reform bill, which goes into effect in September, allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26. (Some insurers have already put this into place). This means that if I, or any other recent college graduate, can't find a job that can offer health insurance, I'll still have access to affordable health insurance through my family.
This will have a huge effect on decreasing the number of uninsured persons nationwide. It will provide coverage to young adults, who account for 28% of the total uninsured population. The ability for students to remain on their parents insurance relieves a huge amount of pressure for the students and their families. Students won't have to take jobs that they hate just because of the insurance benefits, and parents won't have to pressure their children into going straight into graduate school or the work force. This will allow more students to have meaningful life experiences before settling down into a career and will make for a much happier (and healthier) workforce.
For more information, see the Center for Children and Families' Say Ahh! Blog
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However, if the plan is a grandfathered plan and it indicates that the student must be in school full-time for coverage up through age 23, then they can apply that same rule to age 26. At least that is what I have been told by my company's insurance benefits people who have a customized plan from Aetna.
Posted by Hannah Alanna, 18/09/2010 4:39pm (1 year ago)
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Rachel, The regulations regarding this provision (available at http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/pra_omnibus_final.pdf) discuss the definition of “dependent” for purposes of this and clearly do not list school attendance, even though insurance policies have used it as a criteria until now.
Posted by AACF, 14/09/2010 11:07am (1 year ago)
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I feel that this new insurance plan is ridiculous. The definition of an adult used to be when they turned 18. And, technically a real adult, is when someone turns 21. If someone is legally old enough to consume alcohol then they should be old enough to hold down a job and pay for their own insurance. I was a child of a single parent (with a deadbeat dad) and my mother did not deserve having me on her insurance any longer than when I turned 18 and was able to go to college. She had already worked hard enough. If I have some compassion for her situation (and millions of others in her situation, then shouldn't the government.) Her taxes are just as important as everyone elses. As are mine. I carried insurance through the college until I carried it through my job. This law is designed for the UPPER UPPER class and doesn't apply or begin to touch the LOWER class. Which is funny, because NOW that I am a school teacher, I barely make enough money to be considered a member of that LOWER class. I took a job that I didn't particularly like either, but that is part of growing up. WE all did that and we are denying the children of today the appropriate hard knocks of growing up and in the process making them lazy and entitled. Many youth of today already have a problem with working. This law does absolutely nothing to help this growing problem. This law helps the governing body to not have to worry about the problem, it does asolutely nothing to help the struggling families that are already paying too much just to survive. This law was a "Quick fix" for people that don't really understand many of the families trying to survive in the "REAL" world.
Posted by Patricia Waltrip, 29/08/2010 9:20am (1 year ago)
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I'm looking everywhere to find the fact in the law that the dependent doesn't need to be enrolled in school to stay on his or her parents' plan under this new law. Can you point me in the right direction?
Posted by Rachel, 08/08/2010 9:16am (2 years ago)
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