Family Health Insurance Can't Cover EnoughFebruary 2008
Across the country
family health insurance restrictions are being expanded in an effort to provide medical insurance to a growing segment of uninsured: young adults.
Almost all states, when regulating insurance plans for small- and medium-sized employers, set a maximum age for coverage of dependent children. The limit is usually 19 for non-students and 23 for full-time college students.
But the costs of insuring a young adult are usually more than most of them can pay for medical insurance at this age. Add in a pre-existing condition, and it's impossible for a young adult to protect their health once they no longer qualify for family health insurance.
And then there's the problem of "the invicibles," the young adults who don't try to get medical insurance because they take their good health for granted. These are the kids who are at risk for serious medical debt should they fall ill or suffer an accident.
Many states are now looking at this group of young people as they seek to reduce the number of uninsured by extending family health insurance coverage.
In the past two years, 17 states have passed laws that let young adults stay on the family policy until their mid-20s. New age limits range from 24 in Delaware, Indiana and South Dakota, to 30 in New Jersey. Eleven states settled on age 25, according to the Commonwealth Fund, which conducts health research.
Facts on:
Family Health Insurance Coverage
Did you know...
In the past two years, 17 states have passed laws that let young adults stay on the family policy until their mid-20s?
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But according to
The Arizona Daily Star, not everybody agrees that states should take that step. Some refer to the extensions as the "slacker mandate."
However, one thing to keep in mind is that as young people focus on things like buying a car, putting a down payment on a first home, or starting their own family, too often they simply can't afford the
medical insurance coverage that they really ought to have to protect them physically and financially in the event of a medical incident.
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