UHC Extends Dependent Coverage up to Age 26 Ahead of Requirement
UnitedHealthcare to Fill Coverage Gap for Graduating College Students
UnitedHealthcare (UHC) will work with your clients that wish to extend the health coverage that graduating college students currently have under their parents' plans. They are taking this step ahead of a new federal health reform provision that will require dependent coverage up to age 26.
As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, young adults will be able to stay on their parents' employer-offered or individual family health plans up until age 26. However, this extension does not begin to take effect until Sept. 23 this year, leaving some graduating students temporarily without coverage.
UHC want students to graduate into a secure future, not the ranks of the uninsured. UHC saw an issue with this possible gap in coverage and are the first health insurance company taking action ahead of the new requirements.
This offer to extend coverage applies to students who currently are covered under their parents' fully insured plans through UnitedHealthcare, as well as those covered under UnitedHealthcare's Golden Rule individual family health plans. UHC will work closely with you and your fully insured clients to carry out the extension of coverage and to make sure these young adults have health coverage available to them. UHC will also work with self-funded customers to determine if they are going to offer this benefit to graduating seniors. Individual health plans from Golden Rule Insurance already allow all dependents to stay on the plan until age 26, so no action is necessary for those health plan enrollees.
Accelerating the dependent coverage extension timeline for graduating student enrollees is another tangible step UHC is taking to help translate the new, complex health reform directives into workable reality. For more information, please review the News Release.
Customer Communication
Please help UHC communicate this important information to your clients by sharing this template letter with them. UHC will also notify UnitedHealthcare customers for whom they have an e-mail address through a Customer eUpdate later today.
Thank you for your help in sharing this news with your UnitedHealthcare clients. If you have any questions, please contact your b&p Group Sales Representative.