Gaining a degree, but losing health care
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Thousands of area college students will be tossing mortar boards into the air in the next month. But as families prepare to celebrate, many are scrambling to find those graduates health coverage for the summer.
Jordon Kozik of Arnold will be graduating in political science from Washington and Jefferson College on May 22. And his parents will be forced to find health insurance for him unless he can find a job with coverage.
Until now, he's been covered under his father, Bruce Kozik's, employer, Allegheny Ludlum.
"He'll lose the coverage June 1," said Helen Kozik. "So we'll have to find something. We've had fantastic coverage, but it's only good as long as he's a full-time student."
The new federal health-care law, which will require insurance companies to allow dependent children to remain on their parents' plan until age 26, doesn't take effect until Sept. 23.
So that means there may be a gap in coverage for as long as four months for graduates — since most health care plans kick dependent children off when they finish college.
U.S. Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius wrote a letter to insurance carriers earlier this week asking them to eliminate the summer gap, according to National Underwriter, a major source of insurance news.
Some health providers across the nation have agreed in recent days.
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