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Another way this bill affects readers of HN: Parents can keep children up to 26 years old on their health insurance. Previously, the age limit was determined by
by luigi 17y ago
Another way this bill affects readers of HN: Parents can keep children up to 26 years old on their health insurance. Previously, the age limit was determined by individual insurance companies or individual states.
- ronnier 17y agoI'd be ashamed to be in my 20's and be on my parents insurance plan.
- Xichekolas 17y agoSo you'd be ashamed to be in grad school? (Or doing a startup right out of college?) Often the insurance offered by a parent's plan blows away what can be had through the University. Of course, you can buy individual insurance fairly cheaply... unless you aren't in perfect health, or are a girl.
- ronnier 17y agoLast year I finished my graduate degree in computer science. I worked a full-time job while doing that (also during undergrad). I'm actually pretty proud of it. I finished up grad school with a lot of work experience, zero debt and had insurance the entire time.
- Xichekolas 17y agoAnd you should be proud of that. I'm currently a CS grad student, with zero debt, working as a GTA/GRA (depending on the semester). I get my insurance through the University for an awesome $94 a semester, but if I were still young enough, I'd definitely opt for my parents insurance, and I wouldn't be ashamed of it. It would just make financial sense.
- robryan 17y agoNot everyone would be able to do this though. Working more than part time I'd feel that I couldn't put enough time into my education. I know some people are better at quickly being able to switch tasks and work effectively in short blocks but not all.
- rsheridan6 17y agoGive yourself a pat on the back.
- cdr 17y agoThe insurance offered through my university was certainly terrible. It was very cheap, but there was a reason for that - it provided as little as possible, and made using it as difficult as possible in the hopes you'd just give up and never use it. Being on my parents' plan would've been night and day.
- AngryParsley 17y agoThat feeling of shame is better than having no insurance or having to pay lots of money for private insurance.
- ncarlson 17y agoAmen.
- spamizbad 17y agoSpeak for yourself. Where was this bill 5 years ago when i was 22: I broke my clavicle when some asshole did a hit-and-run and ended up dumping my entire savings (~$9K) into medical costs. I would have loved to have my parent's insurance pick up the tab on that one.
- jpwagner 17y agoUgh, Ronnier, I fully agree with you, but you stated this in the wrong way given that the system has developed the way it has. It is a bit shameful to be dependent on one's parents at 26, but because of employer based-benefits and the fact that is it NOT shameful to not yet be locked into a profession at 26 means that family insurance plans are a necessary reality. The real question is why the system had never evolved to allow affordable family plans rather than employer based benefits. I have some thoughts, but that will make this an even more heated discussion.
- Xichekolas 17y agoThe reason is the $265 billion tax break given to employers for providing health insurance. During WW2, there were wage controls, but employers needed to attract workers, so Congress gave them this small (at the time) tax break for providing health insurance to workers. (They don't have to pay payroll taxes on that portion of compensation.) Who doesn't want to encourage employers to provide perks to their employees, especially perks that improve their health? But this has blossomed into a huge market imbalance, where people can't change jobs due to insurance concerns, and buying individual insurance puts you at a huge financial disadvantage compared to employer-provided insurance.
- jpwagner 17y agoI totally agree with you, but you skipped over the "WHY". Why did it "blossom"? Why did it not get corrected after WW2? Especially when (forgive my lack of data) I'm sure public data could corroborate that the average time spent in one position/job has decreased steadily since then.
- Xichekolas 17y ago> Why did it "blossom"? Because health care costs skyrocketed, which led to skyrocketing insurance premiums. Something that was previously 1-2% of compensation is now often >10%. > Why did it not get corrected after WW2? It's a rare thing for Congress to pass a bill that reduces complexity... just look at the tax system. This bill is a case in point. There were numerous way to reduce complexity (and hence costs), but instead they just added more. More complexity isn't always bad, but it's very rarely cheaper. Ways to reduce complexity: remove the market distorting tax break, regulate insurance at a national instead of state-by-state level, make insurance compulsory, make health insurance actually act like other insurance. (You don't expect your car insurance to pay for oil changes or your homeowner's insurance to pay for smoke detector batteries do you? And in that vein, when was the last time you lost your car insurance because you lost your job?)
- RK 17y agoFor much of my mid 20's I had no health insurance. That was shameful.
- grizzydot 17y agoHmm...I got kicked off my parent's health insurance after graduation, but I'm still under 26. Would this bill allow me to get back on my parent's insurance or is strictly for children still on their parent's insurance?