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Washington, DC --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced legislation this week in the U.S. House of Representatives to increase the health insurance eligibility age for young adult dependents whose parents participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP) from 22 to 30 years of age.
The New Jersey lawmaker said he introduced the legislation to address the fact that young adults (ages 19 to 29) are one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the U.S. population without health insurance. More than 13 million individuals in this age bracket lacked health coverage in 2003, an increase of 2.2 million since 2000.
Pallone noted that young adults often lose health coverage when they "age out" of their parents' insurance policies. The New Jersey congressman said this usually occurs after graduating from high school or college as many young adults are starting out in jobs that generally offer low wages and do not come with health benefits.
"Loss of health insurance places the health of our nation's young people at risk and subjects them and their families to great financial stress," Pallone said. "I believe that extending eligibility for dependents under private coverage is a sound policy that can help reduce the number of uninsured Americans."
Pallone's home state of New Jersey recently enacted a law that will allow a dependent to remain on a parents' health insurance policy until he or she reaches 30 years of age. Several other states have enacted similar measures, including Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts and New York.
"These state laws are a step in the right direction, but they do not apply to all types of insurance policies, including the federal employee health care plan," Pallone said. "As a result, federal employees in New Jersey and other states have been unable to take advantage of these improvements in the law. The legislation I introduced will help fill this gap and extend much-needed health coverage to young adults."
The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program began in 1960 and is the largest employer-sponsored group health insurance program in the world. FEHBP currently covers over 9 million Federal employees, retirees, former employees, family members, and former spouses. |
