Dependent Coverage to Age 26

Health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), gives more people in the U.S. access to health care-at lower health care costs. However, the law’s dependent coverage rule gave people up to age 26 benefits right away.

The law calls for dependents to be covered no matter if they are single or married, where they live or what their student status is. The Department of Health and Human Services calls for plans to cover dependents under the age of 26 that were:

• Enrolled in the plan at this time
• Previously terminated from the plan
• Never enrolled in the plan

Spouses and children of dependents are not eligible unless the plan already covered them.

Until 2014, grandfathered plans are free from covering dependents that have access to some other company-sponsored plan.

According to the law, you may use funds from a health reimbursement or flexible spending account to pay for health care costs of dependents up to age 26