Changes in Health Coverage for Young Adults

With the Affordable Care Act young adults can stay on their parents’ health plan until they are 26 years old.  This change which went into effect in the fall of 2010, has allowed more than three million young adults to receive health coverage.

Next year young adults will have more options for coverage in addition to their parents’ plan; however they will still encounter problems for coverage of  conditions related to mental health, substance abuse and maternity.  In the case where the young person might have had an individual health plan which refused to cover preexisting conditions, joining their parents’ plan may not change coverage in these areas.

In 2014 health plans will not be able to turn members down because of preexisting medical conditions. When this change goes into effect, young adults can choose if they want to stay on their parents’ plan or enroll with a new provider.   According to the Affordable Care Act:  "Additionally, young adults and people for whom coverage would otherwise be unaffordable will have  access to a catastrophic plan that will have a lower premium, protect against high out-of-pocket costs, and cover recommended preventive services without cost sharing." 

It is imperative that we stay informed which can be extremely hard to do when the full text of the Affordable Care Act is 906 pages, but if we read approximately 2.5 pages a day we could read the entire document in a year.

Let's start reading.

Dr. Dee Carter