The bill would require most Americans to carry insurance, with subsidies for those who can't afford it. It would also create state-based exchanges where the uninsured can compare and shop for plans.
Seniors who spend more on prescription drugs would get a more generous benefit, including a $250 rebate this year. Young adults could remain on a parent's insurance plan until age 26, and no one with a pre-existing health condition could be denied insurance coverage.
What impact will this have in future decades? I predict young adults will take longer to emancipate themselves because they want to stay under their parents' insurance plan. I haven't yet found the provision within the bill, which would provide more complicated details. The following 2008 brief by the Urban Institute will give some numbers on young adult health insurance (one in three don't have it, including me, and most of them don't think they need it), and alternatives to the plan hurtling its way through Congress.
Comically, even the President has doubts about whether young adults are paying attention to this issue.
Sharmina Manandhar, "Young Adults to Get Parents' Health Coverage Under House Dem Plan." Southern Maryland Online (Oct. 12, 2009)
The provision for young adults was also one of the points outlined by President Obama in his health care reform rally in Maryland last month.
"Because under this plan -- listen up, young people -- under my plan, if your parents have health insurance and you're currently on their policy," Obama said in University of Maryland, College Park. "You will automatically be able to keep your coverage until you're 26 years old."
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