Released: July 27, 2008

Extending health insurance for young people

Source: Kimberly Lankford, Kiplinger's [Washington Post] (Free Registration)

hildren are generally dropped from their parents’ health insurance when they turn 18 or 19 or graduate from college. But 16 states now require insurers to cover dependent children on their parents’ policies until the children are in their mid-twenties - and sometimes up to age 30.

The new rules can help cover adult children who don’t have health insurance through their jobs or don’t have jobs. To qualify, grown children must be unmarried and live in the same state as their parents. But they don’t need to live with their parents or even be considered dependents for tax purposes.

This can be an attractive option for adult children who have health problems and could have trouble qualifying for affordable insurance on their own. But other young adults might be better off declining the deal. In many states, healthy people in their twenties can purchase insurance on their own for less than $100 per month.

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