<p>Yes and No. We would have gotten COBRA coverage thereafter which we were about to do with my son who recently turned 26, but this has been a great financial relief for us these last 4 years that we did not have to pay for COBRA and that now we do not have to pay for our son who get subsidized insurance through ACA. Because he is very low income, he would have simply gone without unless we paid for the COBRA coverage. He has coverage because of ACA and we aren’t going to be out the premium. My other kids both got jobs with health coverage before we had to get COBRA. My one son is currently double covered as a result of the up to 26 coverage AND he has his own paid coverage at work. </p>
<p>But I think that regardless of effect on me and mine, personally, it’s been a huge relief for many people and something long in coming. I am a registered Republican, but I do support this change in the healthcare situation. Though not everyone who should will take advantage of this, it’s out there now. Someone like my son has no excuse not to be covered. It’s well affordable. And he’s been able to use his coverage at the top hospital and doctors in the area, not much problem at all. I’m pleased and relieved. We would be paying quite a bit to have him covered this year if this had not occurred. But at least we could have done it. A lot of people simply could not, no parents or others to pick up the tab, and they don’t have the $s to pay it. It’s now doable for many more people.</p>
<p>“When I graduated from college I never even thought about health insurance.”</p>
<p>Since DH and I were married before graduation, we had been dropped from our parent’s insurance and they were fairly concerned that we get some. We applied to a couple of companies and were turned down on the basis of being students. We had to report that on every insurance application for the next 25 years…
I don’t recall we did for the grad school years (other than be healthy) and then DH got a job with benefits that covered birth of DS six weeks later. </p>
<p>The OP’s question is interesting. It has no effect on my kidswhatsoever because we don’t have a plan that offers them coverage anyway. For those who do, it sounds very much as if those are many of the same people who would be paying to cover them. And, subsidize their rent, food, and clothing, as well. Maybe, that’s why we’re calling them adult children. I never thought about insurance at that age, either. Although, H had a policy he purchased for himself for a very small monthly fee. In other words, it was really not a big deal. </p>
<p>Young people losin motivation on getting a job because they could get insurance through their parents until 26? What about having a roof over their head or paying for their own food, who is paying for that? What about feeling good about being self supporting and having a meaningful career? Health insurance for people in their 20s really doesn’t cost that much. Hard for me to believe someone would not getting on with their lives because of few hundred $$ a month.</p>
<p>D1 has a good job and can certainly afford to pay for her own health insurance, but I have her on my plan because I have better insurance and it is free.</p>
<p>I am not going to get political about this, but wouldn’t it be a heck of a lot better if there were policies in place to encourage the private sector companies to create more good-paying jobs with health benefits. Then your adult children wouldn’t have to stay on their parents’ plans.</p>
<p>I think de-linking health benefits from employers is a good thing. My 20 yo S is a student and works 2 jobs. I like that his health insurance doesn’t have anything to do with his staying at one of those jobs, or his school for that matter. </p>
<p>“D1 has a good job and can certainly afford to pay for her own health insurance, but I have her on my plan because I have better insurance and it is free.”</p>
<p>Yeah, but this isn’t going to work if the child is located in another state or region in your state. In that case the parent’s plan might not cover the child. Almost all Obamacare plans have very restricted coverage.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m misunderstanding something, but there was never an issue with a 19 year old buying his own insurance independent of an employer. Mine did. Well, we paid. But, both of my older kids had their own policies from about age 15 because It was the cheapest way to get them covered. Young people were very inexpensive. We have never had employer insurance for the family. So, I guess I’m not quite understanding this benefit. Obviously, if he stays free longer that would be welcome. But, in terms of not moving forward in life because of an insurance issue. Well, call me baffled.</p>
<p>Once again, Flossy, you are forgetting that only healthy people, not sick people, could buy insurance on the private market. If your child had been a cancer survivor, that cheap insurance would not have been available. </p>
<p>No, CF I’m not forgetting. Everyone agrees that pre-existing conditions were a problematic issue. The OP’s question, however, has nothing to do with that very real problem that everyone agrees existed and everyone agrees needed to be solved. That cheap insurance was available for the vast majority of young people who are not cancer survivors. Fortunately. So, I’m unsure about why Obamacare would be a huge factor in postgrad employment. Many posters have commented on how it was not a top of mind issue for them which is not at all surprising if you are healthy and 25 years old.</p>
<p>I did the numbers for my son who went off our insurance recently. The cost of insurance plummeted with ACA. Savings is drastic over COBRA which would have given us just a couple of more years, and what it would have cost to get even the least expensive insurance which does not have the coverage that is now mandated. No way my son could have afforded insurance before, now he can. Yes, he would have still had insurance because we, his parents would have paid, so we save the money. As it is, he can deal with this on his own. That many in his situation are not getting insurance anyways, is a shame. But now there is no excuse. In time, when word gets out that it is affordable and worth getting, perhaps others will do the same. He’s already encouraged a number of his peers to check out the numbers and they have. </p>
<p>Pre existing conditions were a huge issue for us because I have another son who is a cancer survivor. He got a job with a company that has excellent benefits so he did not need ACA protection, but oh, have I worried about him. He still is of age that we have him covered at no cost under our policy too as secondary, but without ACA if he did not get a job like he got, which is rare among his crowd, at his age, we’d be worrying. One of my close friends is going through the process now as her son goes off her policy in a couple of month and she’s helping him get insurance through the ACA process. He’s also has pre existing conditions that are such that getting anything on his own would be a problem. He’s just in his senior year of college at age nearly 26 due to all the time he lost due to extensive surgeries that knocked him out for months and even close to a year at a time. 17 major ones in his life, but now it looks pretty good. Nothing in the last 3 years and they were just clean up and fine tuning. But now until he finds a job with insurance , he’s covered. </p>
<p>So there are a lot of people with preexisting conditions. Young folks. With medicine the way it is, more kids surviving and thriving as adults who would have been dead as kids not long ago. Also, I assure you, that the market prices were not inexpensive for a 26 year old HEALTHY person around here. I did the search and the numbers and had the COBRA quote back 7 months ago before we knew what the exchanges would even be like. A lot of confusion, mayhem actually in getting this together, but it’s all good now, and as I said, he’s used the insurance even in the last couple months with an injury and at arguably the top medical center here. Also get some counseling, psych treatment, he’d wanted, at an affordable price now. I’m happy as can be.</p>
<p>COBRA has always been very expensive. I was offered COBRA once by an employer who thought I would be thrilled to have it. because I quit that job in the middle of a pregnancy. In fact, the nice insurance lady called me weekly for a while there. Yeah, no thanks,.</p>
<p>I’m baffled by people who say COBRA is expensive, particularly when it is said by older people. COBRA costs exactly what your company was paying to insure you, and if you are older than 40ish, the younger people at your company were subsidizing you and your real cost was even higher. If COBRA is expensive, that’s because health care in the United States is expensive.</p>
<p>COBRA is calculated on the rates being paid by the employer in a group plan minus their contribution and plus some fees. So, a reasonably healthy and reasonably young person could do much better on the individual market previously. But, that may have changed.</p>