Under the , if your plan covers children, you can now add or keep your children on your health insurance policy until they turn 26 years old.
Well that is wonderful. BUT What happens to the "children" who do not have the option of being dependent on parents?
This is the situation that I faced and I have been either underinsured, or completely uninsured for the last four years. The truth is that without being on the plan of a parent or having parental financial support, it is nearly impossible to be insured as a young 20 something, this is especially true for those of us who are college students. The university plans (generally speaking) not only offer horrible coverage but are also expensive!
A student with a part time job, that is financially responsible for his or her self is fortunate enough to be able to cover the costs of school that are left over after grants and loans and the cost of rent and food! Health insurance does not even have a chance to enter the thought process when budgeting. It is simply not a possibility. I as a student, I have not worked less then 18 hours a week since I began school, and was completely unable to provide myself with health insurance. Even working 26 hours a week (making just over double the minimum wage per hour mind you) during my third year of college, I was barely scraping by withOUT health insurance.
I am fortunate enough now to be in a full time position that pays for my health insurance. But according to the new health insurance laws I who am 23 am still able to be dependent on the healthcare plan of my parents for another 3 years! But seeing as I have been financially on my own since the age of 18, these laws do nothing to benefit me.
There is a problem with health insurance companies and the new governing laws over health insurance in the mere fact that they assume that a college student and/ or a young adult up to the age of 26 has the option of being dependent on a parent financially.
The article that I've linked to below (courtesy of Robin Marantz Henig of the NY times) speaks about the current state of those in their 20's and the prolonged adolescence that current 20 somethings are facing.
I understand the benefits of the new insurance laws, and how much they benefit many 20 somethings and college students. But as a society shouldn't we be pushing for our 20 somethings to be independent? Rather then creating laws that allow for a prolonged adolescence?
