WASHINGTON — It wasn’t anywhere near the center of the contentious health-care debate, but a provision letting parents keep their children on their own health plans until age 26 is emerging as a top selling point for President Obama’s reform law.
The provision, nearly drowned out in all the talk of a “public option” and insurance-industry practices, stands to benefit 14 million people this year by one estimate.
And it has become one of Obama’s biggest applause lines when he campaigns to promote the new law around the country to a still-skeptical public.
“This is an incredibly popular and bipartisan idea,” said Bridgett Frey, a spokeswoman for Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a prominent backer of the change.
Right now, health plans in many states won’t provide coverage to adult children of policyholders once the child turns 19. And many young people aren’t picking up coverage on their own.
According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, young adults aged 19-29 make up 30 percent of the uninsured population, totaling 14 million in 2004.
In recent years about half the states have enacted laws extending this deadline as a way to get more young adults covered. Last year, New York extended coverage to children up to age 29.
‘Plan’ parenthood
Some states already allow young adults to stay on their parents’ health plans:
New York: Up to age 29
New Jersey: Up to age 31
Connecticut: Up to age 26 for full-time students
Massachusetts: Up to age 25, or two years after no longer a “dependent”
Utah: Up to age 26
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, American Medical News