Making insurance more affordable for twenty-somethings, the governor promotes a new law to help young adults get health insurance. Governor Jim Doyle says the new law, adopted as part of the state budget, will go into effect January 1st, although it hasn’t received a lot of attention. Health insurance policies will be required to cover the children of policyholders, up to age 27, regardless of whether or not the children are in school. Under previous practice, some insurers have allowed parents to keep children up to age 24 on their policies, if those children are enrolled in school.
Neither Doyle or state Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg could cite numbers on who many young adults might end up being covered, or what costs might be, although Dilweg expected that to be minimal. Young adults who are married won’t be eligible, and those who have their own or employee provided coverage would only be eligible if it’s cheaper to be under their parents’ plan. And, Doyle says there will be some additional tax liability for parents.
