The bill seeks to amend existing health insurance laws by extending the age limit for dependent coverage from 26 to 30 years old. This amendment would apply to all health benefit plans in the state that provide dependent coverage, excluding supplemental policies for specific diseases or other supplemental policies. The bill ensures that coverage for children under 30 cannot be denied or restricted based on financial dependency, residency, marital status, student status, employment, or eligibility for other coverage, with certain exceptions. It also stipulates that coverage terms cannot vary by age except for children aged 30 or older and clarifies that insurance carriers are not required to cover the child of a child receiving dependent coverage unless the grandparent is the legal guardian or adoptive parent.

The bill includes deletions of the current legal language that sets the dependent coverage age cutoff at 26 and inserts new provisions to extend it to 30. It affects various chapters of the General Laws, including those related to Accident and Sickness Insurance Policies, Nonprofit Hospital Service Corporations, and Nonprofit Medical Service Corporations. The bill also exempts certain types of insurance from these changes, such as hospital confinement indemnity, disability income, accident only, long-term care, Medicare supplement, and other limited benefit policies. The proposed changes are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024.

Statutes affected:
5338: 27-18-59, 27-19-50, 27-20-45, 27-41-61