Forbes
Obama's health care reforms are making it easier for young adults to secure coverage.
If you've caught recent TV news about Washington's health care overhaul, you've probably heard talk about a mysterious thing called the COBRA. You may have even wondered, half-jokingly, "What does health care reform have to do with the terrorist group from G.I. Joe?"
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, or COBRA, brought a variety of changes to federal law during the Reagan era, but the one for which it's become most famous was a requirement that large employers allow former employees to stay on the company's health plan temporarily (a year and a half is the norm) after they leave.
COBRA wound up helping unemployed college grads because the law also covered dependents of employees participating in a company health plan. Full-time college students have typically been allowed an exemption to remain on working parents' health insurance even though they're legally adults; if you're out of school and don't have a job, you're going to have to make another arrangement. The good news is, COBRA provides you with a temporary solution. And the Democratic majority in Congress keeps pushing legislation designed to strengthen the program.
The bad news is, your family has to cover the entire cost to get you COBRA coverage--you won't receive the financial contribution from a parent's employer that you may have received when you qualified for normal coverage. Luckily for you, the recently passed national health care overhaul, known as ObamaCare, addresses the high number of young adults struggling to find a long-term health coverage solution. And if you're a grad without a job, you may be able to take advantage of the new changes immediately.
One reform under ObamaCare allows children to remain on their parents' health insurance plans until age 26. The law will force a lot of plans to be more generous in offering coveage to young-adult children than they were previously. Technically, the new extension affects insurance plans that go through their annual renewal process after late-September, but many plans are already agreeing to put in place the new age limit before the change is officially mandated.
Government websites, like the U.S. Department of Labor, are posting lists of insurers that are implementing the age-limit increase ahead of schedule.
"Even if your insurer is included on the list, you have to call up and make sure it applies to you, because a lot of employer plans are self-funded, so different rules might apply,' cautions Cheryl Fish-Parham, deputy director of health policy at the nonprofit advocacy group Families USA.
If you don't have a parent's workplace health plan to rely on, you may be eligible for a government insurance program. A few states, including Connecticut and Massachusetts, have been expanding Medicaid (federally funded insurance historically reserved for the poor and disabled) so that the well-educated but out of work are more likely to be covered. In addition, each state has its own insurance program for low-income residents. Families USA's website has an interactive map where you can find state-by-state information on public health care options.
Whatever you do, try to avoid an interruption in health insurance coverage. If you experience a serious medical problem while uninsured, you'll be saddled with debt that could take you years to dig out from under. Also, when you apply for insurance after being uninsured, your new insurance company is bound to refuse to pay for medical bills related to a preexisting condition.
"If you have a gap in coverage, unfortunately you might find your pre-existing condition is excluded [by your new insurer] for a period of time," Fish-Parham warns. "Even if it's just a broken bone, they'll say, 'We won't cover it.'"
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, or COBRA, brought a variety of changes to federal law during the Reagan era, but the one for which it's become most famous was a requirement that large employers allow former employees to stay on the company's health plan temporarily (a year and a half is the norm) after they leave.
COBRA wound up helping unemployed college grads because the law also covered dependents of employees participating in a company health plan. Full-time college students have typically been allowed an exemption to remain on working parents' health insurance even though they're legally adults; if you're out of school and don't have a job, you're going to have to make another arrangement. The good news is, COBRA provides you with a temporary solution. And the Democratic majority in Congress keeps pushing legislation designed to strengthen the program.
The bad news is, your family has to cover the entire cost to get you COBRA coverage--you won't receive the financial contribution from a parent's employer that you may have received when you qualified for normal coverage. Luckily for you, the recently passed national health care overhaul, known as ObamaCare, addresses the high number of young adults struggling to find a long-term health coverage solution. And if you're a grad without a job, you may be able to take advantage of the new changes immediately.
One reform under ObamaCare allows children to remain on their parents' health insurance plans until age 26. The law will force a lot of plans to be more generous in offering coveage to young-adult children than they were previously. Technically, the new extension affects insurance plans that go through their annual renewal process after late-September, but many plans are already agreeing to put in place the new age limit before the change is officially mandated.
Government websites, like the U.S. Department of Labor, are posting lists of insurers that are implementing the age-limit increase ahead of schedule.
"Even if your insurer is included on the list, you have to call up and make sure it applies to you, because a lot of employer plans are self-funded, so different rules might apply,' cautions Cheryl Fish-Parham, deputy director of health policy at the nonprofit advocacy group Families USA.
If you don't have a parent's workplace health plan to rely on, you may be eligible for a government insurance program. A few states, including Connecticut and Massachusetts, have been expanding Medicaid (federally funded insurance historically reserved for the poor and disabled) so that the well-educated but out of work are more likely to be covered. In addition, each state has its own insurance program for low-income residents. Families USA's website has an interactive map where you can find state-by-state information on public health care options.
Whatever you do, try to avoid an interruption in health insurance coverage. If you experience a serious medical problem while uninsured, you'll be saddled with debt that could take you years to dig out from under. Also, when you apply for insurance after being uninsured, your new insurance company is bound to refuse to pay for medical bills related to a preexisting condition.
"If you have a gap in coverage, unfortunately you might find your pre-existing condition is excluded [by your new insurer] for a period of time," Fish-Parham warns. "Even if it's just a broken bone, they'll say, 'We won't cover it.'"
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