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How Long Can My Adult Child Stay On My Insurance?

Universal healthcare is not available in the United States. The healthcare crisis means one visit to the hospital can send a person into financial instability.

A 2022 OnePoll survey on behalf of AmeriLife found that 70% of American adults live paycheck to paycheck. Additionally, 76% of millennials who had savings spent it on a large healthcare bill. While health insurance does not cover all the costs of medical situations, it can help make situations like drug & alcohol detox more financially manageable. 

Gen X and millennial parents know the impact of medical bills. You do not want your children to start their adult lives facing financial ruin, so you may want to keep your young adult children on their insurance.

If you want more information about providing your adult children with insurance, this article will cover the legal guidelines.

How Long Can My Adult Child Stay on My Insurance?

Keeping adult children on your insurance makes medical procedures like drug detox more affordable.

What Is the Affordable Care Act?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (collectively referred to as the Affordable Care Act hereafter) were signed into law in 2010 by former President Barack Obama. The Affordable Care Act pushed forward three major goals:

  • #1. Increase affordable insurance coverage. This included subsidies for people living in households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level.
  • #2. Provide access to fair and equitable insurance for all people.
  • #3. Re-evaluate the way insurance companies determine treatment coverage. It pushed for the equal inclusion of mental health and preventative services.

In order to achieve these goals, the Affordable Care Act mandated many systematic changes.

For instance, insurance companies could no longer deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. They also could not create lifetime monetary limits on health coverage. One of the most significant changes, though, came in the form of young adult health care coverage. Previously, insurance companies could cut off a person's child when they turned 18. The Affordable Care Act set forth new policies that protect young adults.

Adult Children Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act

Under the Affordable Care Act, almost all insurance companies that offer family/dependent coverage must offer you the option to keep your children on the plan until the child is 26. This must be available regardless of the adult child's circumstances and extends to previous disqualifiers, such as:

  • School Enrollment
  • Marriage
  • Children
  • Financial independence
  • Housing independence
  • Employment
  • Eligibility for job insurance
  • Secondary insurance coverage

As a parent, you will receive an offer of continued enrollment around your child's 26th birthday. Usually, you must opt out of continued coverage. You simply keep your plan as is to keep your child on the plan. Occasionally, you must opt-in and fill out a paper to keep your child's coverage.

Either way, the process is simple.

Adult Children Coverage Under State Laws

New York, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and South Dakota all independently passed provisions that extend health coverage more than the Affordable Care Act. Unlike the Affordable Care Act, these states put qualifiers and disqualifiers in place for adult children. As such, after the age of 26, as a parent in these states, you need to know your state's specific guidelines. 

New York: Age 29

  • Unmarried
  • Live or work in the state of New York
  • Not eligible for employer insurance coverage

New Jersey: Age 31

  • Unmarried
  • No children
  • New Jersey resident and/or full-time student
  • No secondary insurance

Florida: Age 30

  • Unmarried
  • No children
  • Florida resident and/or student
  • Not eligible for another insurance plan

Pennsylvania: Age 29

  • Unmarried
  • No children
  • Pennsylvania resident and/or full-time student
  • No secondary insurance
  • Insurance plan available through a parent's Pennsylvania-based job

Illinois: Age 30

  • Unmarried
  • Illinois Resident
  • Veteran

Wisconsin: Age 27

  • Unmarried
  • Not eligible for insurance through an employer or the insurance costs more than the parent's insurance

Nebraska: Age 30

  • Unmarried
  • No children
  • No secondary insurance

South Dakota: Age 29

  • Full-time student

These are the only current state laws allowing you to keep your adult children on your insurance plans past age 26. After the age limit, insurance companies are no longer required to keep adult children on your insurance. 

Substance Use Treatment for Adult Children

By allowing your adult child to stay on your insurance plan, you can ensure they have access to decent healthcare. This includes care for substance abuse at an addiction center or drug rehab. Family support can influence the initiation and success of treatment.

If you are concerned about your child's addiction, you may want to hold an intervention. This is best performed with the assistance of a licensed alcohol and drug counselor, licensed family and marriage counselor, or licensed master social worker.

While there is no such thing as a “licensed interventionist,” mental health professionals will possess the education and training to assist families. They know how to help the family understand substance use disorders (SUDs) and how to convince someone to seek help. 

Remember to treat your adult child like a loved one rather than an authority figure. They have already given up control of their life to a substance. They need some sense of autonomy. They will more likely open up if you treat them as a competent individual.

DetoxNearMe.com Will Help You Get Your Adult Child on the Road to Recovery

For most parents, loving a child does not stop when they turn 18. They want to support their children to the best of their abilities as they start adulthood.

Under the Affordable Care Act, parents can provide insurance coverage until a child reaches the age of 26. Eight states have individually extended this even further. As such, young adults can receive much more affordable medical care for chronic health problems like substance abuse.

If substances control your child's life, DetoxNearMe.com will help you find an effective detox provider for their needs … and your budget.

Getting started is as simple as signing up and beginning a search. Drug detox is the foundation of a successful recovery. DetoxNearMe.com will help your adult child build a strong one.

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