How to Stay on your Parents' Health Insurance Plan until you are 26 : US Administration released New Info today

Just received this info from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office:

Today, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued new regulations on how to implement new coverage for young adults under age 26. The new regulations build on the news that insurance companies – under pressure from Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration – have agreed to start providing coverage for young adults ahead of schedule.

If you want to learn more, here’s what you should do:

· Check for Immediate Options: Private health insurance companies that cover the majority of Americans have volunteered to provide coverage earlier than the implementation deadline for young adults losing coverage as a result of graduating from college or aging out of dependent coverage on a family policy. This stop-gap coverage, in many cases, is available now. Ask your employer and insurer about this option.

· Watch for Open Enrollment: If early coverage is not an option with your employer or insurance company, then young adults will qualify for an open enrollment period to join their parents’ family plan or policy beginning on or after September 23, 2010. Insurers and employers are required to provide notice for this special open enrollment period. Watch for it or ask about it.

· Expect an Offer of Continued Enrollment: Insurers and employers that sponsor health plans will inform young adults of continued eligibility for coverage until the age of 26. To get the coverage, young adults and their parents need not do anything but sign up and pay for this option.