Health insurance is always such a complicated topic. Con terminos como deductible, co-pay, out-of-pocket expenses, and dependents sometimes choosing the right plan for your needs can be hard. Just like how hard it is to decide que plan de seguro to get, it’s even more difficult to want to choose a plan when you realize how expensive it is. Pero, when you look a little deeper, you might not need health insurance until you’re past the age of 26 which can save you a little cash in the long run.
What is extended coverage?
En el mundo of adulthood, you’ll land your first full-time job. As you’re reviewing the benefits that your new employer offers you, you don’t know whether or not to choose health insurance. You can feel free to buy health insurance on your own, pero si tienes menos de 26 years then you are still covered under your parent’s insurance plan.
You can generally get added to any parent’s insurance plan if they are on a job-based plan or plans through the Health Insurance Marketplace. However, this was not what dependent coverage was like before the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare). Until 2014, cobertura de dependiente was not available if the young adult had a separate offer of employer-based coverage.
How does it work?
You are able to continue to be fully insured under your parent’s health plan whether or not you:
- Live with your parents
- Are claimed as a dependent on your parents’ taxes
- Have a full-time job
- Are eligible to enroll in your employer’s health plan
- Attend school
- Are married
If you are covered under a job-based plan, your coverage ends at the age of 26. Algunos planes will have a grace period of coverage until the end of your birthday month, en otros termina the day after your 26th birthday. Under the Marketplace coverage, your benefits do not end until December of the year your turn 26.
If you choose to go your own way and buy health insurance on your own, it does not mean that you can have two health insurance plans. Typically when you enroll en un plan, la cobertura of the other ends. So in this case, your parent’s insurance’s coverage would end and your individual plan would begin.
Aside from your coverage ending when you turn 26, if you become pregnant, el plan de seguro is not required to cover your baby. It depends on state laws and the plan, but plans like United Healthcare, does not extend that type of coverage.
Pero porque does this benefit me?
Having coverage under the age of 26 is super important. These are generally your college years in which the most you are able to work may be a part-time job. Teniendo cobertura under your parent’s health insurance plan allows you to have un poquito de paz. Especially during a time of emergency, you know that you’ll be covered.
We know how pricey health insurance can be. So avoiding that cost by choosing to forego your own individual plan puede ser beneficioso. You can use that money you would be paying for your health insurance and add it to your high-yield savings account, invest it, or put it towards your 401(k).
Postponing adulthood is all that we want to know. Health insurance coverage until 26, puede convertir ese sueño en realidad.
