Health reform: Extending coverage or waiting until it's required?
Extending healthcare coverage to dependents up to age 26 is one of the first provisions of the reform law to go into effect. So are companies planning on complying right away — or waiting until they’re legally required to do it?
Even though insurance companies have said employers can extend coverage early, the majority of employers will wait. In fact, of the 501 employers in a recent Hewitt Associates, Inc., survey:
- 77% said they will wait until the effective date before offering coverage
- 10% will extend early coverage
- 9% already offer coverage to graduating students, and
- 4% are undecided.
The reform law requires companies to extend dependent coverage by the first day of the plan year starting after September 23, 2010. For most calendar-year plans, that date would be on January 1.
Readers, has your company started extending healthcare coverage to dependents up to age 26 yet? Let us know in the Comments section.
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