Children on Their on Parents’ Health Insurance – What’s the Limit?
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Health insurance is one of the main topics of interest for this generation. Is a very controversial and still very confusing subject. The rules and regulations are always changing and evolving according to today’s society and keeping yourself up to date with all of them can be quite challenging, to say the least.
In this article, we’re going to tackle the subtopic of “Health insurance for children”, especially how long can a child stay on parent’s health insurance.
Health Insurance for Children and Young Adults
The first thing that you need to know is this: under the current law of the United States of America, if you have a health insurance plan that covers children, you can keep or add your children to your plan until they turn the age of 26 years.
Criteria Taken into Consideration
Children or these so-called young adults, can remain and enjoy the benefits of their parents’ health insurance policy even if:
- they get married
- have a baby of their own or adopt one
- refuse to enroll in a job-based coverage
- move away from home and stop living with the parents
- are eligible themselves to join an individual health insurance plan
- are still attending classes in school
- they no longer depend financially on their parents’ support.
All these apply, just like we have previously seen, to all children and young adults who are under the age of 26. On the day of the 26th birthday, the child loses these privileges – hence, they are no longer eligible to stay on their parents’ health plan.
After this moment in their lives, the now fully-grown adults have to start looking for individual health insurance plans that can satisfy their needs.
Enrolling for a Health Insurance Plan after Turning 26
Enrolling for a health insurance plan after turning 26 can be complicated and time-consuming. The law of the United States of America says that there is a limited time during a year when people can apply for individual health insurance plans.
However, the good thing is that the moment a child loses its medical coverage on the day of its 26th birthday, they become eligible and qualify for a special enrollment period. This special enrollment period lets the young adults enroll in a health insurance plan outside the normal and limited period of open enrollment.
Getting Added to a Parent’s Health Insurance Plan
There are two ways to get yourself added to a parent’s health insurance plan. The parents can add their children to their health insurance plan during the annual open enrollment period or, if they experience certain events that qualify them, during the special enrollment period.
The second option – when buying a new plan through the health insurance marketplace – requires the parent to simply add the children on their application.
All these being said, children and young adults can now relax knowing that they can benefit from their parents’ health insurance plan until they turn 26 years old.