Young and Invincibles

The Ohio Department of Insurance and the Ohio Association of Health Plans (OAHP) have partnered to educate the state’s demographic with the highest rate of uninsureds about the importance of securing health insurance. As part of an outreach campaign to cover more young adults, a special website has been launched with information on how parents can secure the dependent age coverage through their employer or insurer.

An estimated 20,000 additional young adults, commonly referred to as the “Young Invincibles” now have access to health care coverage, due to the dependent age increase. This new dependent benefits kicks in either when a policy is issued or at the policy’s date of renewal. Previously, only dependents up to age 19, or up to 23 years old if they were still in school, were eligible to receive coverage under their parents’ policies.

Other components of the push to cover more young adults, includes: distributing brochures and posters to college and university campuses, a statewide email campaign targeting young adults, a YouTube video campaign, a Facebook account and a Twitter page. The website, at www.youngandinvincibles.com, also contains stats, stories, and video testimonials, about the need for young adults to have insurance.

The new federal law requires dependent coverage be made available until a child reaches age 26. The new state law requires coverage be offered to a child from age 26 until age 28. State law does not require the employer to pay for this added benefit, federal law does.