Before the federal Affordable Care Act became law, many children turned 18 and got the surprise of being dropped from their parent’s health insurance plan.
Losing health insurance coverage led to many young, healthy people leaving the health insurance market entirely. And because there were not enough young, healthy people in the market to balance out sicker policyholders, insurance premiums became unaffordable for many young people. Without insurance, these young people risked incurring medical debt due to unforeseeable accidental injuries.
The federal Affordable Care Act helped remedy this situation by allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance policy until the child turns 26. But parts of the Affordable Care Act are still under threat.
While current Pennsylvania law allows employers to cover an employee’s adult children until age 30, not many employers take advantage of this option. Thus, if the Affordable Care Act is ever struck down, many adult children will lose their health insurance coverage, and we may see another market spiral.
I believe that is unacceptable and can be prevented by incorporating this key Affordable Care Act protection into state law. Please join me in providing health insurance coverage to young adults by supporting this legislation.