By Lydell C. Bridgeford
October 14, 2008
President Bush recently signed a new law that prohibits health insurers from terminating coverage for dependent college students who leave school due to a medical condition or a serious injury.
The federal law allows dependent college students who are undergoing a serious illness or suffering from a major injury to maintain health insurance coverage for up to one year, even though they are no longer attending school. The law also states that, should the student's health plan change after the first day of a leave of absence, but before the coverage would otherwise terminate, the student would remain eligible for coverage as a dependent student under the new plan.
The bill originated because a New Hampshire college student with cancer had to continue going to school on a full-time basis to avoid losing health coverage under her parents' plan.
The law is effective for plan years beginning on or after Oct. 9, 2009, and applies to health plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code and the Public Health Safety Act.
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