In late October the state of Wisconsin passed a law requiring health insurance companies to cover people under 27 on their parents’ health insurance policies.
The law not only covers college students; it also extends coverage to people not enrolled in college.
This is a great thing for people between 23 and 26 years old, who normally would be without coverage unless their employer provides it.
Not only does the law cover a segment of the population that goes largely uninsured, it should also take some pressure off free health care clinics.
Also, with employers curtailing or outright eliminating health coverage the law now gives 23 to 26 year olds a chance to have insurance.
Health insurance isn’t as important to this age group as it is for the elderly, but bad things do happen to young people, and having coverage will save the people that need medical attention thousands of dollars.
Insurance doesn’t just cover broken bones, emergency room visits and cancer treatments; it also covers medication for problems like depression, anxiety disorder and attention deficit disorder.
One of the prominent reasons this bill makes sense is that college students are spending more time in college than in decades past. Instead of going to school for four years and going out into the job market and finding employment, now students are spending four and a half to six years in school.
Most college students’ first job out of college does not offer health coverage. It isn’t until their second of third places of employment when they begin to offer insurance, and that may not be sufficient as insurance companies attempt to cut their claims losses.
Now even though this new law does help out a portion of the population that were previously uncovered by health insurance, it will have repercussions for everyone that is currently covered.
First, insurance companies will more than likely increase the cost of coverage, even though the age group affected by the law is one of the lowest risk groups for maladies.
Now the question is: will the companies increase the cost of coverage a small amount, or will they use this as an excuse to increase costs by a significant amount? If the companies jack up the costs we would hope Wisconsin lawmakers would show as much concern as they did when they decided to pass the health insurance law in the first place, and keep in mind the desired end of all this legislation –to help people stay well and healthy.
The law can be a beneficial one, yet if it comes at the cost of increased prices, the law will be nearly as harmful as things were before it was enacted. Possibly worse.
Overall, the new law is a positive step for the young adults in the state of Wisconsin and should be lauded for curing a problem that existed for quite some time.
Student insurance extensions a good policy
Students from 23 to 26 can now breathe a sigh of relief as Wisconsin law will now help keep their co
Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 23:11
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