More adult children now have health insurance, thanks to a mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The PPACA requires that group health plans and insurers make dependent coverage available for children until they turn 26, regardless of tax or student status, or dependent status as it relates to financial support. The mandate to offer coverage to adult children ages 19 to 25 took effect for policy years that began on or after Sept. 23, 2010, but since January is the beginning of the plan year for many employment-based health plans, many insurers adopted the requirements of the law before the effective date.
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The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute examined data from two U.S. Census Bureau surveys as well as a survey by the Centers for Disease Control.
The percentage of persons ages 19 to 25 with employment-based coverage as a dependent increased from 24.7 percent in 2009 to 27.7 percent in 2010. The percentage of those same individuals with employment-based health coverage as a dependent averaged 26.9 percent during January to September 2010, and increased to 27.1 percent during October and November.
The percentage with private insurance increased from 51 percent to 55.8 percent, and the percentage uninsured fell from 33.9 percent during 2010 to 28.8 percent during the first half of 2011 among those ages 19 to 25.
"Data from these three surveys show that PPACA has had a positive effect on the percentage of young adults with employment-based coverage as a dependent," says Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI's Health Research and Education Program and author of the report.
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