Health Care in the United States is undergoing drastic changes as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). One of the main goals of health reform is to expand medical coverage to more Americans.
One way it is accomplishing this is by allowing parents to carry their young adult children on their medical plans up to the age of 26. The law also allows young adult children who are married, attending school, not living with their parents and eligible to enroll in their own employer’s plan to continue coverage under thier parents medical plan (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). However, one stipulation is that they must not be financially dependent on their parents if they are not attending school nor have employment.
The whole purpose is to increase the access to more people and reduce the amount of uninsured Americans. An article published by New England Journal of Medicine reported that since the law took into effect, an increase of emergency room visits increased by 3.1%. In a one year period it was calculated that $147 million in medical costs were now covered by newly insured young adults (Harris, Ph.D, et al., 2013). Emergency room care is very expensive and increasing the coverage to young adult children will save money for both the parent and the adult child.
The data shows, in at least one area of health reform, it is helping to increase coverage to young adults who otherwise would have gone without medical coverage needed to seek emergency care.
References
Harris, Ph.D, K., Finegold, PhD, K., Kellermann, M.D., M.P.H., A., Endelman, B.Sc.Adv., L., Sommers, M.D., PhD, B. D., & Mulcahy, PhD, M.P.P., A. (2013, June 07). Insurance Coverage of Emergency Care for Young Adults under Health Reform. Retrieved from www.nejm.org: www.nejm.org
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013, June 7). Young Adult Coverage. Retrieved from HealthCare.gove: HealthCare.gov
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