2014
A single 25-year old must buy health insurance and if they do so through a marketplace plan, in many areas of the country they are also eligible for a tax subsidy, but wait…
If that twenty-five year old has parents who have health insurance, he or she can be enrolled under the parents plan at little or no cost (except perhaps to the employer and other employees sharing group premiums). This is true even if the 25-year old is married, not a student, is employed with health insurance available and is not dependent on parents for support. . . go figure!
One has to ask the difference between these two 25-year olds or why the ACA makes such distinctions.
Before Obamacare, most health plans covered children to age 22, 23 or even 25 if they were full-time students and dependent on the parent for support. This should have remained adequate, but instead the Law created the above scenarios and for what purpose … other than to shift costs from government subsidized coverage to employers and insurance companies?
On the other hand, there is some cross purpose here. The Affordable Care Act needs young enrollees in marketplace plans to spread the risk while at the same time the Law encourages them to enroll on their parents plan.
Now you know how the Affordable Care Act makes health insurance “affordable.”
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 