Buying Health Insurance for Children Gets Easier

Thanks to Obama's Affordable Care Act, buying health insurance for your children has become considerably less difficult than it has been in the past. Though many of the law's overall reforms won't come into play until 2014, key provisions that affect young people are already in place. Here's a look at some changes that might impact your family:

First, health insurance companies that refuse to offer child-only policies that cover children with pre-existing conditions face steep penalties. Therefore, if you have a child who is younger than 19, you can now get coverage for them even if the child has a serious medical condition that existed prior to their enrollment in the policy. In many states there are open enrollment periods to comply with, but enrollment can also be made in the child's birthday month, or after a "qualifying event," such as a parental divorce or change in jobs. But be aware that in many states, if a child isn't signed up during the open enrollment period, there are no limits on what insurers can charge for these policies.

Secondly, young people can now be covered under their parents' policies until they turn 26. Prior to healthcare reform, the states regulated coverage for dependent children and usually bounced young people from their parents' family policies around the time they reached 18. Be aware, however, that the new healthcare law does not set limits on what insurance companies can charge for these family policies, and healthcare consumers therefore need to do their homework and compare the costs and coverage of each policy carefully.

The law also calls for a new wellness program which requires "qualified health plans" to provide free preventative care like immunizations to infants, young children and teenagers. In addition, the Affordable Care Act also requires states to maintain the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for lower income families until at least 2019, whether or not there are state budget shortfalls.

Of course, all of these regulations are subject to change if the healthcare reform law gets repealed, or loopholes are discovered, but for now parents can get some peace of mind when it comes to buying health insurance for their children.