New rules requiring insurers to cover adult dependents up to 26 years of age will have two major effects on physicians.
First, physicians who offer health insurance to their employees will be required to extend this coverage to employees without any additional cost beyond the family premium. The change is expected to increase the cost of family premiums about 1 percent.
In addition, physicians with adult children of their own can now keep them on their health insurance plans longer or add them back to their plan if they already aged out of the policy.
The child does not have to live with his or her parents, be considered a dependent for tax purposes, be unmarried, or receive financial support from his or her parents.
For most plans, the new rules will apply after Sept. 23. Employer-sponsored health plans in existence before the health system reform bill was signed on March 23 can exclude adult children until 2014 if they have access to another employer-sponsored health plan.
Many insurers have agreed to provide this coverage immediately and not wait until September. Some will wait for the next open enrollment period for their insurance, but the Blues insurers have agreed to extend the coverage immediately. Employers are being urged by the White House to do the same.
Insurers and employers must provide young adults with a written notice that they have a 30-day window to enroll on their parents’ coverage.
The interim final regulation was published May 13, 2010, in the Federal Register. It will become effective June 1, 2010.