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What the Affordable Care Act Means for your Student

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affordable care actThe Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare) has begun to roll out in earnest. While the politics of the bill are certainly something that continue be debated, the fact is that the Act is certainly here today. If you have a student who is in college or who is going to college, you are faced with a very different health care landscape than you were looking at last year. The major differences are in the types and cost of coverage available, as well as who will pay for that coverage.

Longer Coverage

Perhaps the best-known provision of the Affordable Care Act was the increase in the length of time that a single college student could remain on his or her parents’ insurance. The new limit is 26, which is enough time for most students to finish an undergraduate degree as well as a Master’s program. This gives parents a chance to make sure that their children maintain coverage even after they head off to college, and it gives most students a better level of overall insurance coverage than they might be able to afford on their own. The coverage is not indefinite, but it does help to fill in the gaps that many experience in their 20s.

Required Care

The longer coverage period will be quite helpful, since your student will now be required to have health insurance. Many schools have already required some form of coverage for their students (the SUNY system in New York is a notable example), but the new government regulations will apply a tax penalty to adults who are not covered. It seems likely that more major universities will require some form of health care for students to attend, though this is only conjecture at this point. What is important, though, is that all students will be required to have coverage or to pay the tax penalties at the end of the year.

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How will the Affordable Care Act affect you and your student

 

Affordable Care ActCollege life isn’t always associated with the best of health practices. Between socializing, studying, and the occasional all night cram session, for most college students their health is an afterthought. Still, when it comes down to it, like everyone else, students and their parents want to pay a fair and reasonable price for healthcare that works for them, instead of the other way around.

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s major provisions just around the corner on Jan. 1, 2014, there are more options than ever for students’ health insurance.

Let’s examine some of these options.

Mom and Dad: Healthcare Providers

Believe it or not, it’s been three years since one of the ACA’s landmark provisions became law. This provision has so far done the most to increase insurance coverage for the country as a whole. It allows children to stay on their parent’s healthcare plan, until the age of 26, even if they have a pre-existing condition.

For parents weighing the costs and benefits of student health insurance plans, this is by and large the best options for their child’s health insurance. It saves time, money, and resources during college and those crucial post-college years where your child is getting financially situated in the world.

As your child nears the age of 26 though, the ACA will give them plenty of options for solid, affordable health insurance at a good price.

SHP’s: The Benefits of College Life

SHP stands for Student Health Plan, and most accredited colleges and universities have them. SHP’s are healthcare plans offered to students at reduced rates until graduation.

SHP’s have benefitted millions of U.S. students by offering them healthcare, often in conjunction with extensive on-campus health facilities.

Medical services related to pre-existing conditions are normally not covered under SHP’s. However, with the ACA, these plans will have to cover such medical services, as well as a host of other health services mandated by the ACA, such as emergency medical treatment, prescription drug coverage, and coverage for mental health.

The Affordable Care Act will be fully implemented in January of next year, and it looks like students will be all the better because of it.

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