Young adults often think they don’t need health insurance because they’re typically healthy. They normally don’t have chronic illnesses such as cancer and diabetes, but despite what they may think, young adults do need health insurance coverage. There are many policies available and it’s easy to search online for health insurance quotes.
There’s a big change coming for the way health insurance companies cover young people. Beginning in September, all new health care plans must cover children of policy holders up to age 26. Many insurers have already agreed to put the new rules in place ahead of schedule, but that doesn’t mean that young people will automatically be covered.
The New York Times reports that even though insurance companies have offered the change in rules early, many employers are declining the policy updates. Since the law only requires that employers comply by the time their next health plan year starts. For many, this means the law won’t be in effect until January of next year.
For young people graduating college this year, that may create a gap in coverage. Most insurance plans currently cover dependent children on their parent’s policy until the age of 18, or 23 if the child is a student enrolled at least half-time in college. Under these rules, a 24-year-old student who graduates this year does not have to be covered by their parent’s insurance policy until the new law takes effect.
That means many young adults will be looking for short-term health insurance quotes. Short-term health insurance is usually offered for 6 or 12 months, depending on the policy. This type of insurance is designed as a stop-gap measure for people in exactly this kind of situation.
Other people utilize short-term health insurance during temporary periods of unemployment, or during the waiting period before company benefits kick in. Early retirees awaiting Medicare may also need short-term health insurance quotes. There are many policies available that are suitable for any of these types of situations.
If you’re a young person without health insurance, you should consider how you would manage if the worst should happen. If you had an accident that required hospitalization, physical therapy, prescription drugs, or surgery, how would you pay for all the medical bills? Health insurance may seem like an unnecessary cost and a hassle, but it’s far less of a bother to search for health insurance quotes than to foot the bill for costly medical treatment.
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