PenPenWrites

Maybe it's because it was such a sore point for paterfamilias and me: When our children graduated from college and set forth to various parts of the country to figure out what to do with their lives, neither of them figured they needed health insurance. Never thought about it. We, of course, did, and we had to scour plans in the states where they had wandered to find catastrophic coverage for them–to make sure that if something terrible happened, a doctor and hospital wherever they were would take them in and that we wouldn't be stripped of our assets when the bills came due.

I blogged about this a while ago. The big news then was that a few states were allowing parents to keep their grown kids on their health insurance policies until those kids were 25 or 26 years old. Now, it's easier. The health reform law that finally inched and sighed and crept through Congress and onto President Obama's desk this year has important provisions for parents of young adult children. Not only can we keep our adult children on our health insurance plan until those children are 26, we can keep them there even if the kids get married. However, if your child's employer decides to offer coverage, all bets are off–your child can no longer stay on your policy.

The other news? Some states are expanding that age-of-coverage to 30. Given the current employment picture–hard to find a job; growing trend toward contract work, which doesn't offer health coverage–that could be invaluable.