Health Reform for Young Adults to Age 26

The new health reform law offers several benefits for young adults. This three-minute video outlines these benefits, such as allowing young adults to remain on their parents' health plan until they turn 26. Featuring Sara Collins, vice president for the Affordable Health Insurance Program at The Commonwealth Fund.

This video is part of a series produced by the non-partisan Alliance for Health Reform in Washington, DC (allhealth.org). Our aim is to explain simply and in concrete terms the major provisions of the health reform law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010). The series is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. To suggest questions that you would like to have answered in this series, please send an email to BillErwin@allhealth.org

SARA COLLINS: The reason young adults are at such high risk of being uninsured is they lose coverage at two key transition points -- both involving graduation.

And the results are really consequential. A lot of young adults do have pre-existing conditions. They tend to be a healthier age group overall, obviously more healthy than older adults. But conditions like asthma, diabetes can make it really difficult for them to get affordable health insurance in the individual insurance market.

And we also find that young adults who are uninsured have much higher rates of not getting needed care, because of the cost. Also having medical bill problems, not being able to pay their student loans. So going without coverage really does put them at risk, financial risk.

Young adults, starting in September (2010), were able to come onto their parents' policies, if their parents had an employer-based policy that included dependent coverage. Young adults, whether they're married, whether they're not financially dependent, whether they're living in a different state, not living at home -- so all young adults up to the age of 26.

The major provisions (of the health reform law) start in 2014 -- expansion of Medicaid to 133 percent of poverty, that's $14,000 a year for an individual, about $29,000 for a family of four. So this is a huge improvement in the coverage of young adults -- young adults who lost their (Medicaid) coverage when they turned 19, as children, are going to be able to stay on Medicaid if their family income allows them to do that.

So a major improvement in coverage. About 7 million young adults who are currently uninsured would be eligible for Medicaid under the new expansion.

For young adults who are in families with slightly higher incomes -- those earning between 133 percent of poverty and 400 percent of poverty, that's about $88,000 for a family of four, $44,000 for an individual -- they will be eligible to purchase a private health plan through these new state health insurance exchanges, with subsidized premiums and also cost-sharing subsidies to offset their out-of-pocket costs.

Because of the loss of coverage at graduation, this law really is in many ways a graduation gift for young adults. So instead of graduating and losing their coverage, they're graduating and they'll have lots of options for insurance coverage to protect them, protect their families from catastrophic medical costs.

USEFUL TERMS
PREMIUM - The cost of health plan coverage, not including any required deductibles or copayments. The cost of the premium may be shared between employers or government purchasers and individuals.

COST SHARING - Any out-of-pocket payment the patient makes for a portion of the costs of covered services. Deductibles, coinsurance, copayments and balance bills are types of cost sharing.

For more information:
Alliance for Health Reform
www.allhealth.org

The Commonwealth Fund
www.commonwealthfund.org

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• health reform
• healthcare reform
• health care reform
• health insurance
• health coverage
• Sara Collins
• Alliance for Health Reform
• Commonwealth Fund
• children
• kids
• William Erwin
• Samir Arora
• Obamacare

[WRErwin]

Sara Collins responds: "Yes, if her parents' health plan includes coverage for dependents, she may stay on their plan to age 26 even if she does not go on to college."

[Pendragon1717]

Your relatively young and not in poverty? Your premiums will skyrocket under Obamacare, especially if your male. This is primarily due to community rating, and bloated minimum coverage rules. Actuarial tables go out the window. It's like asking someone who drives a Ford Escort to pay premiums on a BMW. Your premiums will be artificially inflated to subsidize the elderly, octomoms that pop out kids with no means to support em, the fat/lazy McDonald''s crowd, illegals, and welfare recipients.

[Weneedanswers]

Can I stay on my parents health insurance until 26, even if I don't go straight to college after high school?