Nearly one-third of uninsured American are between the ages of 19 and 29. But because Rock the Vote and other organizations worked with the White House and Congressional leaders during the Health Care Reform discussions, language was written into the affordable care act that allows people up to the age of 26 can stay on their parents’ insurance. Since the President signed the bill into law, the number of uninsured young people has already started to drop. This NY Times story points out that millions of Americans under 26 will become insured or reinsured under their parents’ plans and in 2014, when the entire law goes into effect, millions more young people, those with a higher chance of not receiving insurance at their jobs because they are likely to be temporary or entry-level positions, will benefit from lower prices brought on by the open-market. So when people like Eric Heininger, who got sick in Haiti while doing relief work gets sick, he can be covered when he comes back to America.
From the NY Times:
“The affordable care act is, in many ways, a graduation gift to young adults,” said an author of the report, Sara R. Collins, a vice president at the Commonwealth Fund.
Relief will come sooner for 1.2 million young people whose parents have health coverage but who fell off family policies when they graduated from high school or college.
Beginning in late September, health insurers will be required to cover children on family health plans through age 25, and many companies are making the change now so new college graduates do not face gaps in coverage.
In the past, three-quarters of adult children who were insured under their parents’ employers’ plans either lost their insurance or had to switch policies when they graduated from college, with some going uninsured for two years or more, according to the Commonwealth Fund report.
Families will not have to pay extra for the adult child, Dr. Collins said, explaining that the benefits should cost no more than “if they’re 5 years old.”
