2013
The current Administration has a few favorite words, like millionaires and billionaires, fair share, abuse and “free.” Free especially when it comes to health care. Unfortunately, nothing is free as the following illustrates.
However, under PPACA, employers are not allowed to directly charge higher premiums for the cost of this “adult-dependent” coverage. An EBRI analysis of the experience of a single large employer during the period Jan. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2011, found that nearly 700 adult children enrolled in the employer plan in 2011 as a result of the adult dependent mandate―and this group used about $2 million in health care services in 2011 (about 0.2 percent of the over $1 billion in total spending on health care services by that employer that year).
The EBRI report also looked at the claims behaviors of the ADM group compared with a group of dependent children ages 19–25 that were covered prior to Jan. 1, 2011, some 13,000 young adults. Both groups had health coverage for the entire 2011 calendar year through the employer examined in this study. Average spending in the ADM cohort was higher: 15 percent higher than the comparison group, in fact. While the period of review was short, and the experiences associated with that of a single large employer, the ADM group used more inpatient services than the comparison group, and, in what is perhaps the most interesting finding of the analysis, were more likely to incur claims related to mental health, substance abuse, and pregnancy.
So, while these adult children benefited directly from the “free” coverage (employers can’t charge extra for this coverage and if the parent already has family coverage their premium does not increase), their fellow workers saw premiums increase and the employer paid more as well.
Related articles
- 42% Of Americans Have No Idea ObamaCare Is Law? Really? (intheshadowshere.wordpress.com)
- Sebelius: Yep, ObamaCare is raising insurance costs (humanevents.com)
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