Health insurance for children has already been affected by the new Affordable Care Act law. The idea behind the law was to require insurance companies to cover all children with any health condition. Before this law went into effect when a child applied for health insurance, he or she might be declined due to medical issues. If they had diabetes or cancer or some other disease, they would not get coverage at any price. The law was intended to give coverage to kids. The problem is that the law went into effect and the insurance companies changed their rules on underwriting. At this point there are no policies available to children under 18 if they need coverage on their own.
I helped many families save money by putting their healthy children on these policies before the law started six months after it was signed into law. Most children are covered on their parents plans through their parents' employer. If an adult has a plan, children can be added to their plan but they can not be the primary applicant like they used to be. If you have a child that needs coverage for a short period of time, short term health insurance plans do offer plans to children. These plans are full major medical insurance plans but they cost much less than most. They do not generally offer co payments for doctor visits or prescription drugs and that keeps the costs low. If you have less than six months to cover your children, this is an option for them.
One part of the new law that is helpful is the ability for children to stay on their parents' plan until they are 26 years old. Before this law took effect when a child turned 18 years old they had to leave the policy if they did not enroll in college. If they were in college they could typically stay on as dependents until the age of 26. But even then as soon as they were not a full time student, the insurance company forced them to find a new policy.
The ability to stay on a plan as a dependent until the age of 26 may be a good thing if they have medical conditions. But they may be able to get a better deal on their own in the individual and family market. Typically if you have two or more children on the same plan, it will be better for the family to keep the children on the plan as dependents.
There are many changes for medical insurance laws that offer many more opportunities to get coverage and save money. Contact your local insurance agent if you have questions or research online for the newest up to date information.
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