A big selling point of healthcare reform was that you could stay on Mom and Dad’s policy until you had become a grandparent-just kidding. The cut off age was 26.


Well, now it looks like that may be more important than you thought. The new healthcare bill may make it impossible for many students to get healthcare insurance!


The Wall Street Journal notes:



Along comes word that the bill “could make it impossible for colleges and universities to continue to offer student health plans.” That’s how the American Council on Education and a dozen other higher-ed lobbies put it in a recent letter to the Obama Administration, warning that the insurance coverage they offer may get junked by ObamaCare’s decrees.



Between 4.5 million to 5.5 million students annually are insured by short-term plans sponsored by their schools, which are tailored to upperclassman who have aged out of their parents’ coverage or to international and graduate students. These plans are very low cost because the benefits are designed for generally healthy young people and often organized around campus health services and academic medical centers.



All of which means these plans aren’t likely to qualify under ObamaCare’s “minimal essential coverage” rules that mandate rich benefit packages, even if colleges have the flexibility to make exceptions for special needs. And given that insurance must now be sold anytime to everyone, colleges may be required to continue to cover students after they’ve graduated-leaving this type of coverage unaffordable.



It doesn’t help that the regulations governing student health plans are as carelessly written as the rest of the bill, and the uncertainty is holding up insurance contracts and plan design for the coming academic year. Not surprisingly, the colleges are asking federal regulators for a blanket ObamaCare waiver. (Can everyone else apply too?)


 What I want to know: Is anybody going to benefit from the new healthcare system?