States Extend Age for Dependent Coverage

New Jersey and Florida are leading the way as more and more states extend dependent coverage to age 30 as more children live at home, start and finish college later and take more time to find jobs with insurance benefits in a worsening economy.

Parents previously could maintain coverage on children as dependents after 19 if they were full-time students (with coverage usually ending at age 22 or 23). About 30 states now require dependent benefits to be offered past age 19, regardless of college enrollment.

None of the laws require insurers to provide dependent coverage. But they say that if it is offered, the insurance must extend to children of the ages the states specify. Because of the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the laws do not apply to employers that choose to self-insure.

Many of the state laws extending dependent coverage differ on whether the covered child must be financially dependent on the parent. The New Jersey law does not require the child to be financially dependent or verify that they cannot obtain other insurance first; the Texas law requires dependence and for the parents to claim the child on their income tax return.

Source: Employee Benefits