Dependent medical insurance coverage varies by plan and employer.
When purchasing medical insurance either as an individual or through a plan through your place of employment, you should know what coverage the plan provides, who the plan covers and how much the premiums cost. New guidelines associated with the Affordable Care Act make insurance available to your adult children for an extended period of time.
Dependent Coverage
The majority of medical insurance plans allow for dependent coverage for an additional premium. These plans consider your spouse and children as eligible dependents. In the past, most plans dropped dependent children from your plan when they reached age 19. Some plans extended the coverage to the age of 22, if the child remained in school as a full-time student. The Affordable Care Act extends the coverage age.
Affordable Care Act
As of September 2010, parents can keep adult children through age 26 on their medical insurance plan. Under provisions detailed in the Affordable Care Act, adult children may remain on your plan whether or not they are married, living in your home, at school, financially dependent on you or eligible to enroll in an employer's medical plan. Up until 2014, grandfathered group plans are not required to offer dependent coverage up to age 26 if your child can obtain group coverage outside your plan. This section of the act applies only to plans that offer dependent coverage. With Affordable Care Act, your children get the same coverage available to you and your spouse through your current medical plan.
Coverage and Cost
Medical insurance plans and their cost vary by issuer and employer. A primary cost variable is whether your policy is through a group plan or if you are purchasing insurance on your own as an individual. Plans vary and can cover everything from preventive examinations to prescriptions. Your employer decides whether he wants to offer coverage for your family. Coverage for your dependents through an employer plan generally means an increase in your portion of the premium. The same holds true of individually purchased plans, with family plan premiums costing more than individual coverage premiums. Plans associated with a health maintenance organization or preferred provider organization generally cost less because the plans limit your options to preferred medical providers.
Insurance Portability
If you lose your job or if other life events cause loss of medical insurance benefits, you may extend coverage through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986. COBRA allows employees, retirees, spouses, former spouses and dependent children the right to purchase temporary medical insurance if specific events under the law trigger loss of benefits. COBRA benefits apply to employers with a group plan that covers 20 or more employees on more than 50 percent of its typical business days. If you extend coverage under COBRA, you may be liable for premiums of up to 102 percent of the plan premium's cost.
Tags: Affordable Care, adult children, dependent coverage, medical insurance, medical insurance, your plan
