<p>Regarding #77:
The real issue for waiting for January 2011 is that the contract in effect for 2010 is a legal document with specific parameters (ages and dates of effectiveness) written into the contract.
It is easier for all involved to make changes for the next contract (2011) than to void/reissue the 2010 contract for the (relatively) small number of aging out but not yet 26 year olds.</p>
<p>does anyone know if the young adult coverage will be UP till 26 years old (as in the day they turn 26 they’re off) or THROUGH age 26 (as in until the 27th birthday)?</p>
<p>I believe it’s UP TO age 26. My son will be 26 in November and our open enrollment is in January. I was told he will NOT be eligible.</p>
<p>I understand that many companies are trying to figure out how they’re going to charge for it since it wasn’t built in to the actuarial analysis, and that a number that currently offer single coverage or family coverage are going to go to pricing that varies more based on the number covered: single +1, single + 2, single +3, and single +>3. The other option is to bundle it up into family coverage, likely increasing the costs for all the families that don’t cover post-college dependents. So much for Obama’s promise that if we liked our health insurance, we could keep it.</p>
<p>Hmm…my understanding was that if the employer offered a family plan…they could not charge a “different rate” if the family included those up to 26 year olds. In other words…if the kids were 18 or 25…the family plan cost would be the same. We have gotten our costs for next year and the family coverage including those dependents up to 26 is the SAME as for families with younger dependent kids. Our employer has elected to start this now…which shocked me. BUT I think there was more of a headache taking these kids off, having their families pay Cobra rates for a few months and putting them back on. In our case, we would have opted for a two person coverage until our DD had been able to be reinstated…so they would have also had to change our coverage costs. Easier to just charge me a family rate from the get go.</p>
<p>What I heard was that they couldn’t charge a “premium” rate to insure the post-college-age kids. That is, if the normal charge for a single parent with a child is $450 per month for coverage, they couldn’t charge the single parent with a 24 year-old $550 per month, but they could charge a higher amount, say $500 per month for a single family with any aged child if that’s what their actuarial models suggests. (Though they probably can’t change the rates for existing families until the start of the next coverage year, which is why some are delaying.) I know there’s no free lunch, but I still find it really annoying that a twenty-four year old who is working full time and who is not considered a kid by anyone will be able to get insurance coverage through his or her parents. I can’t wait to see people complaining because their 32 year-old rebounder isn’t covered, and the law should be extended to that too.</p>
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<p>ONLY if their employer does NOT offer health insurance. And as you say…not a free lunch as the premium will have to be paid for family coverage.</p>
<p>Hey, I just googled '‘health care reform age 27’ and found</p>
<p>[United</a> States, Tax, Summary of Tax Provisions of 2010 Health Care Reform Legislation - Giordani, Swanger, Ripp & Phillips, LLP - 26/05/2010, Income Tax, Healthcare](<a href=“http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/article.asp?articleid=101380]United”>Summary of Tax Provisions of 2010 Health Care Reform Legislation - Income Tax - United States)</p>
<p>It,and other articles that came up, does seem to say ‘under age 27’…</p>
<p>I always understood it be ‘through age 26’, as well.</p>
<p>thumper1: ONLY if their employer does NOT offer health insurance. And as you say…not a free lunch as the premium will have to be paid for family coverage. </p>
<p>Yes – but likely increasing the costs for the rest of us with family coverage, which is my objection, and treating adults who could be married and live far from their families like they’re children.</p>
<p>Hope that it’s OK that I resurrect this thread.
There was a lively discussion earlier this year and I wonder what are families’ actual experiences with young adult health coverage now many plans are beginning their new year in Jan.</p>
<p>Have all the unanswered questions now been answered?
I know that I was unclear about whether coverage would extend UNTIl age 26 or THROUGH age 26.
My employer plan (same for all?) answered that one…until DS turns 26. For him that will be June 2012 if he doesn’t find his own employer plan before that.</p>
<p>Anyone else want to share what they learned on this situation?</p>
<p>My husband’s employer’s plan will have health insurance through age 26 for my son. That’s what I think it is…</p>
<p>I need to confirm it, will go home and re-post.</p>
<p>Without having read the entire thread, I would like to say that my children have paid for their own health insurance since graduating in 2007 and going off our family policy then. My son’s high-deductible policy in CA cost him $50/month and my D’s PPO policy in OR with $20 copay costs her $124/month (she wanted more coverage). It would have cost far more to keep them on our policy.</p>
<p>I realize that many states mandate far greater coverage–my sister’s son costs about $250/month in NY–but individual policies for twenty-somethings are available and not end-of-the-world expensive in most places.</p>
<p>Our DS is still a 24 yr old grad student. No employer provided coverage. Several part time jobs to pay for gas, food and recreation.</p>
<p>I am pleased that I can cover him again through my employer plan under family coverage. It costs me about $40 more per month than not having him on the plan.
But I was paying for a high deductible plan for him this last year that had inferior coverage for about $105 per month. When he graduates in May 2011, I will expect him to find his own coverage. For now, it is a definite plus for our family.</p>
<p>My son will be graduating college in May at age 22, and as of yet has not found a job. Hope springs eternal and he has several more months, but at this point would we be able to keep him on our insurance? Does anyone know? I guess H needs to check with his benefits dept.</p>