State Laws Let Twentysomethings Stay on Parents’ Insurance

[Ellen]

Wall Street Journal
August 21, 2008, 8:40 am
State Laws Let Twentysomethings Stay on Parents’ Insurance

Posted by Jacob Goldstein
http://s.wsj.net/media/birthday_art_160_20080221121343.jpgA law pushed through this week by the the governor of Illinois requires health insurers to let kids stay on their parents’ policies until age 26, the Chicago Tribune reports (http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu-health-insurance-rates-aug21,0,2605718.story).
Twentysomethings make up a disproportionate percentage of the nation’s uninsured — in part because they feel invincible, but also because of other factors, such as job hopping and working part-time jobs that don’t offer insurance benefits (http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/05/30/why-young-adults-go-without-health-insurance/).
At the same time, they’re pretty cheap to insure because they tend to be healthy. So lots of states have been enacting laws like the one in Illinois that require insurers to give parents the option of covering their kids well into their 20s. The Trib says such laws have already been implemented or will soon be put in place in 20 states.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, the state’s largest insurer, said the new law would add 1% to the cost of the average group benefit plan. Companies that self-insure answer to the federal government, so the new law doesn’t apply to them.
But the federal rules, too, could soon shift in this direction. Barack Obama has said (http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/02/27/clinton-obama-skirt-health-costs-debate-mandates/) that families should have the option of covering kids on the parents’ plan until age 25.
Photo by Wm Jas (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmjas/112878680/) via

[PattyR]

Yes, that is the law here in Texas - insured until 25. Thank goodness.

[TerpSteph]

My husband works for the Maryland state government and his benefits changed this year to allow us to cover our kids until they are 25, regardless of student status. I don't know if this is a law or a benefit available to state employees. Either way, we're grateful!

[lil'Man'sMom]

Thanks for posting this Ellen. I am going to look into this, we have one 19.5 (in collage) and one 18 who can't seem to make a decision on life yet. It would be good to know that we don't need to worry about insurance of a while.

[moco89]

Yes, that is the law here in Texas - insured until 25. Thank goodness.

Only if you are a full-time student ;)

I believe the Illinois law applies regardless of student or enrollment status. I cannot take a semester off, or I could lose my insurance for the rest of my college career.

[LantusFiend]

BCBS-IL is what I've had insurance on, and I'm planning to do an extra quarter of college in order to be a full time student during my last year. My understanding is that the proposed law would mean I get insured regardless of student status, in which case I might just graduate in March! But the Chicago newspapers make it sound like this law will be repealed before it even gets a change to go into effect.

I'm going to have all of the credits I need to get a B.A. in March, and I'll student teach for certification in fall 09, but in order to stay insured, I have to be a full time student during either the spring or summer quarter as well, which I guess means that I'll have fun with electives.

[PattyR]

Only if you are a full-time student ;)

I believe the Illinois law applies regardless of student or enrollment status. I cannot take a semester off, or I could lose my insurance for the rest of my college career.

Please double check with your insurance carrier. I do HR for my company (in the Dallas area) and our certificate of insurance plainly states that any dependent under the age of is 25 eligible. Our employees are not asked to complete any paperwork showing student status for their children. This fact is reviewed annually at our group open enrollment meetings.

[moco89]

There is a conditional aspect to the Texas law. I have United Healthcare under an employer-based insurance, and I am a dependent. As soon as I turned 19, I received letters in the mail stating that I would have to prove my enrollment status as a full-time student, or certain claims would be denied. My dad also has the entire insurance policy at home, and we both reviewed it too. It does state I have to be a full-time student when I am 19-in order to keep my insurance under my parent's plan.

I have a website I found awhile back (National Conference of State Legislators) listing the laws of ALL states regarding dependent status, but currently the website is down. It should be up soon.

When the website is back up, here's the link. http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/dependentstatus.htm

I do not know if the website has the updated version of the Illinois law.