Health Care Repeal Could Strip Coverage from More than 15,000 Young Nebraskans

Press Release

Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson said that more than 15,000 young Nebraskans are likely to lose their health care coverage if an activist U.S. Supreme Court overturns all or part of the Affordable Care Act later this month as many expect. The law's provision allowing young adults to sign onto their parents' coverage plans through age 26 will be jeopardized.

"More than 15,000 young adults in Nebraska could have their coverage stripped away if an activist Supreme Court rules against the Affordable Care Act, and that's a conservative estimate," said Senator Nelson. "If the health care reform is thrown out, those 15,000-plus young Nebraskans and their parents will lose the peace of mind, stability, and financial security that accompany having their children insured against unforeseen accidents and illnesses."

"I've heard from many Nebraskans that the health reform provision enabling them to keep young adults on their family insurance plan is a godsend," said Nelson. "I received a letter from a nurse in Omaha who told me of a time when her college-educated son did not hold employment with benefits. Under the health care law, she was able to get him covered on her plan. As a nurse who occasionally sees the hefty medical bills given to young patients without insurance, she was especially thankful that the health care law let her put her son on her plan.

"A mother from Bellevue wrote to me, sharing how her 19-year-old son would have difficulties getting insured on his own, due to a debilitating illness. However, due to the protections of the Affordable Care Act, she was able to keep him on her policy. In her words, "if health reform is repealed, I am up a creek.'"
A provision of the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. health care law passed by both Houses of Congress and signed into law in 2010, requires private health care insurers to support children through the age of 26 on their parents' health insurance policies. Before the law was passed, insurance companies could remove enrolled children at age 19. The "young adult provision" of the Affordable Care Act was designed to make it easy and affordable for young adults to get health insurance coverage, and ease their transitions to financial independence.

"An activist Supreme Court could limit health coverage for an entire generation of young Americans. In this day and age, if you don't have health care coverage, you're risking a lifetime of debt. Unanticipated illnesses and accidents can happen, and medical debt can bill young people and their families into bankruptcy," Nelson said.

The "young adult" provision has proven to be popular, triggering a major expansion in health care coverage. A recent nationwide survey by the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, a leading source of health care research, found that in the first year since the "young adult" provision took effect, approximately 6.6 million young Americans signed up for health coverage through their parents' insurance plans.

"Today's young Nebraskans face a weak job market, and often carry debt from school. We need to give them a fighting chance, just like we were given. Let's not limit their access to health care," said Nelson.

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