Insurance law will help 'thousands' of young adults
Vinny DeMarco is head of the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative. Here is his letter to the editor in yesterday's paper responding to my blog pointing out that a new law requiring health coverage to age 25 for dependents doesn't apply to most Maryland families.
Although Jay Hancock's column "New health mandate less than mandatory" (May 11) correctly points out some of the limits of Maryland's new law expanding health coverage for young adults, he greatly understates the law's potential.As of Jan. 1, Maryland became one of only a handful of states to allow young people up to age 25, whether they are in college or not, to stay on their parents' health care insurance if they remain dependents.
There is no doubt that tens of thousands of the more than 100,000 previously uninsured Marylanders between the ages of 18 and 25 will benefit from the new Maryland law.
It is true, as Mr. Hancock points out, that Maryland does not have the authority to apply this new law to federal employees or to large companies regulated by federal insurance rules, and that the Maryland Health Care Commission will determine whether the law will apply to small businesses in our state.
I urge Mr. Hancock to join us in working to convince the federal government and the Health Care Commission to also move the age limit for dependent coverage to 25.
Vincent DeMarco
Baltimore
Comments
The keep raising the age of retirement.
Why not raise the age at the bottom some.
Although it does take some of the motivation to find a job from those 18-25 that are not in college. I think the law is flawedl
Posted by: Neil | May 19, 2008 1:37 PM
Small Businesses (under Maryland Small Group Reform) with less that 50 employees eligible for Health Insurance Benefits are also exempt from offering the extended Dependent coverage.
Really, the Law only applies to Maryland Businesses with more than 51 Employees on a Fully-Insured Health Insurance plan. Since Small Businesses with less than 50 employees and any businesses that "Self-Fund" their Health Insuance Coverage (including the Government) are exempt, coverage will not be extended to all college grads under 25, as a certain paper proclaimed to the Students at University of MD last week.
Posted by: Bill | May 19, 2008 1:59 PM