<p>Just heard on NPR Morning edition that Kathleen Sebelius has worked a deal where the two biggest health insurance companies will start coverage of graduating college seniors immediately -- Wellpoint and I can't remember the other one. This is the only link I could find Sebelius:</a> Insurers To Meet Health Requirement Early : NPR. It is their audio link, but keep watching for it today.</p>
<p>Good news for upcoming grads!</p>
<p>UnitedHealth Group is the other one.</p>
<p>What such a good news? You assumed that premiums will not go up? You mean you can have a free lunch and eat it too? I much rather pay 3 years Cobra than all time much higher premiums. I am not wearing rosy glasses, sorry.</p>
<p>The last thing a 20 something needs is comprehensive health care. This gets to the heart of the whole scam. Young people will be paying out the nose for the health care of their grandparents and baby boomers.</p>
<p>And I just found out that when our son goes off to college next year, any medical care he receives will be considered “out of network” by Anthem (Wellpoint) so we’ll end up paying a lot more for it. You’d think they would have a national network since they cover people in so many states. Sigh.</p>
<p>I for one, with two twenty-somethings no longer on our policy, am delighted to hear it.
Even if the companies mentioned are not ours, I’m truly thankful for this new element of health insurance reform. There are far too many young people who were negatively impacted by our old system.</p>
<p>Thanks lololu for the link.</p>
<p>I agree with curioser. The availability of insurance for just-grads is huge, especially for those young people who want to work in companies where coverage is not available – or start their own businesses. As the parent of a 22 year old still on my policy, I am also breathing easier.</p>
<p>I too, for selfish reasons, am happy my kids will be on my plan until 26. If I could only get them off the cellphone plan.</p>
<p>I am still curious who it is all going to work out. Our son graduates at the end of May, and my insurance provider will continue to cover him for 3 more months. Our provider told us that they will begin offering coverage to high school and college grads six months after they leave school, so that gives us a 3-month ‘hole’ when we have to find coverage elsewhere. It also remains unclear how much more the premium will be with our son included in the coverage. Right now, he could be added as an ‘individual dependent’, but that would cost $440 per month.</p>
<p>Although there are clearly still a lot of bugs to work out, in the long run this has to be a good thing for our college grads, particularly if their job search becomes ‘elongated’.</p>
<p>I also don’t understand how this could be typified as a ‘scam’ the whole concept behind health insurance is that it is a shared risk pool. Older and/or sicker people use a much greater proportion of health care services, far in excess of any insurance premiums that they might pay. The only reason the system (such as it is) works at all is that younger and/or healthier people pay premiums that are in excess of of the health care services they require. How is that a ‘scam’?</p>
<p>It is a good thing. My 2009 college grad went without insurance from June until end of March.</p>
<p>I never tried getting a price quote, but I wouldn’t have imagined that it would be hard to get an individual health insurance plan for 20 year old. There is very little risk that they carry and especially so for males (no offense to women).</p>
<p>My health insurance premiums while in college ran around $1000 for the entire year.</p>
<p>Between jobs I signed up for temporary insurance, it ran about $100 for 3 months.</p>
<p>Mmmm. Our son already has an individual UnitedhealthCareOne policy.
I wonder how this develop will or will not affect him.</p>
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<p>His premiums will go through the roof and he will pay a significant tax penalty if he lets his coverage drop.</p>
<p>young people have been denied coverage in recent years for things as minor as acne - kids think they are invulnerable, but they can suffer all kinds of costly medical problems - from accidents and unexpected health problems. I think it’s great.</p>
<p>The appropriate policy for a 20 year old would be an inexpensive plan that provides mostly catastrophic illness/accident insurance – to protect against the big stuff.</p>
<p>While it’s certainly nice that Blue Cross/Blue Shield is going to extend coverage a month or two before the government holds a gun to their head, that kind of super-expensive fee for service plan makes no sense for young people. Costs a fortune for kids who don’t need it and won’t use it. Pure gravy for the insurance companies.</p>
<p>And, notwithstanding the tale of woe stories from NPR, I seriously doubt that 20 year olds being denied insurance for acne ranks near the top of the inefficiencies in the US health care systems.</p>
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<p>Do you mean that they were refused a policy or do you mean that the policy excluded treatment for skin conditions?</p>
<p>I find it hard to believe that you can’t find an insurance policy that will cover things like broken legs due to an acne condition.</p>
<p>Great news. As a physician I still remember the decades ago 20 something young man with a fully insured motorcycle he planned to replace, ICU et al bills with no health insurance- told my billing agency to go all out- collection agency etc- as he expressed no remorse for his drunken driving accident or sense of financial responsibility for his care. Insurance for young people is cheap because they are unlikely to use it- but life happens. The soccer broken arm, the appendix…, not only the risky behaviors.</p>
<p>Treated for plantar fasciitis last year? No individual policy (application denied) from company X for an otherwise extremely healthy 60 year old. Gee, if he hadn’t been a runner maybe they would have missed underlying heart disease he may otherwise have had that would cost them plenty…</p>
<p>These reforms are only a beginning of changes. Someday the insurance company profit machine will go under- I hope. The middle man making money. No offense to those working in the industry, the concept of insurance is a good one, but profit rules currently.</p>
<p>This is one form of wealth sharing- gasp, socialism- that is needed.</p>
<p>couldn’t agree more, wis75!</p>
<p>this is GREAT news!</p>
<p>intertesteddad-
Agree completely with you. We bought our 23 yr old an individual policy when he was kicked off of my employer provided plan. He rarely used the coverage but it cost me very little to keep him on as a dependent so, yes, he was badly over insured.</p>
<p>When we bought his individual plan ( to cover him for 2 years in grad school) we shopped exactly for the catastrophic coverage we wanted him to have.
It is almost useless for office visits, routine bloodwork, prescriptions etc. BUT it will pay 100% (no copay or co-insurance) AFTER the deductible.</p>
<p>So I pay for his “I have a cough” Dr. visit out of pocket, pay for the prescription etc but know that he will not incur astronomical debt due to an unexpected appendicitis attack or whatever that requires hospitalization.</p>
<p>The difference in what I pay for a family plan vs a two person plan is MUCH less than what it would cost for my HEALTHY soon to be college grad to get an individual policy with a high deductible and FAR worse benefits. We have Anthem…which I believe is Wellpoint, right? I hope this provision applies to my daughter’s coverage until she is either 26 or has her own health coverage from an employer. </p>
<p>Now…if I could just get my stinking employer to deal with this issue. They are burying their heads in the sand about it…won’t communicate to the staff about this coverage for kids up to age 26. I’m disgusted and am tempted to get our union lawyer involved.</p>
<p>^^thumper, your last line says it all. Few, if any employers, will make an unilateral change without union discussion. (Since the union bargained for whatever age limit you have now, the union will have to ‘bargain’ to change it.)</p>