Big Nanny’s slacker plan: Mandating insurance for adult “children”
Several times during the cloture debate on Sunday, Democrats hailed a provision requiring insurance plans that cover dependents to provide benefits to children up to age 26. Democrat Sens. Ben Cardin and Tom Harkin both championed the unfunded mandate in ther floor statements.
This manifestation of the Nanny State is especially galling given the massive levels of generational theft that the Democrat majority has presided over the last year.
I can tell you what most fiscally responsible parents are thinking when they hear the feds “taking care” of everyone else’s adult “children” for them by confiscating their tax dollars and forcing private companies to comply:
What. The. Hell.
There are an estimated 20 states that have already passed legislation requiring insurers to cover adult children. And it’s these very government health care mandates that are driving the cost of insurance up:
“Whenever you insure somebody whom you didn’t insure before there’s some additional risk,” said Mueller, executive vice president of the Wisconsin unit of Willis Group Holdings Ltd., one of the world’s largest insurance brokers. A state requirement that insurers cover autism and mental health has added 3% to the premium rates of employer-sponsored plans that renew on Jan. 1, when those mandates also take effect, Mueller said. Extending coverage is good, he said, but doesn’t come free. “The problem with all these good ideas is there’s funding necessary,” Mueller said.
About 20 states require insurers to offer parents coverage of adult children through what are sometimes called “slacker plans,” according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, an advocacy group whose membership includes insurers, health-care providers, actuaries and insurance brokers. About 10 states have enacted such laws in the past few years, said J.P. Wieske, the organization’s director of state affairs.
…”Employers do not have the appetite right now or the means to take on additional risk, no matter how noble. . . . People are stretched to the max,” Mueller said.
In New Jersey, the slacker mandate covers “children” up to the age of 30.
To date, 17 states have passed slacker mandates, with ages ranging from 24 to 30. New Jersey passed its slacker mandate in 2006, extending coverage for adult children up to age 30. Proponents claimed it would benefit 100,000 uninsured young adults. Yet in two years, only 6% of that estimate has been realized. The primary reason—health insurance is still too expensive…Placing mandates on insurance providers forces everyone to pay more for insurance—even those who do not want and will never use the additional coverage.
Demcare: Creating a permanent culture of dependency and bottomless debt in the name of the “children” from birth through quarterlife — and beyond.
The new symbol of the Democrat majority and the Nanny State Gone Wild: A giant adult pacifier.
Via Mooncostumes.com
***
Reader Kevin who works in the insurance business in NJ e-mails that the state actually mandates coverage for adult children to age 31, not 30.
Crikey!
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Categories: Health care
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I pay for my kid’s (in college) now but when he’s out of college…he’s going to learn the hard way what it takes after the cash cow of mom/dad no longer pay for his education! The well will be dry once he’s graduated….
The Age Of Entitlement! Makes me pine for the Age Of Aquarius!
This provision will enjoy wide support amongst the basement dwellers that make up a large portion of the posters at HuffPo and KOS. Now if they can just get themselves some walking around money and a Prius legislated life would finally be fair for them.
Shows you how little confidence these criminals have in their “jobs” programs. Don’t expect a job until your turn 31. In fact, this welfare will probably pay better than those “shovel ready” jobs that require fluency in Spanish.
When I was 26, my dad was a retired military man. Who would pay for my insurance I wonder? Uncle Sam, by which I mean the taxpayer?
Why not just put ‘em on Grandmas Medicare while, we’re at it…
My wife and children are MY responsibility, get that?
nice thought jeff but I do believe that medicare covers only the recipient…Mine certainly doesn’t cover the wife and I must pay for another policy to cover her.
Sadly, the parents of these people actually think of them as “children”, and their “parenting” has never included “weaning” – thus the reliance on the public teat.
What. The. Hell.
Double.Ditto.
That’s too funny! 30 years old and you are considered a dependant. When I was 23, I married, and when I was 28 I opened my first business. By age 30, I was supporting my parents by helping them out with expenses. That is the way it should be. I would be embarrassed to be covered by my parents insurance policy in my late 20′s to the age of 30.
Jaw droppingly speechless.
BTW, does anyone know if the crooks in Washington will also use this healthcare plan? I haven’t heard about that in a while.
coverage until 18. period. this is really sick stuff…the sickest thing is today’s post-teen, middle-aged losers see no shame at all in living with mommy and daddy. and I personally believe that one of the reasons unemployment is so high is that unless these college grad doofuses (doofi?) can get the job they want (which is essentially a job that lets them surf the net all day and do nada, with of course no groveling to a “boss” of any kind) then they will simply not look for ANY JOB.
I have a great health plan already, and the government is going to take it from me. Bait and switch, minus the bait.
My slacker 21 y/o is getting a rude awakening. After failing ALL FOUR classes he took this term, Dad is no longer funding any college for him. Since he won’t be a “full-time student” his DoD dependent ID, and Tricare insurance, will be going away. He has been instructed to find a full-time job with benefits… then move out.
Damn, this is going to be bad for their self-esteem.
as one of seven sibs, when i was tossed from college which my parents were paying 50% of the tuition/r&b, at age 18 my dad said to me over the phone, “well son, where do you want me to send your clothes.” next stop-vietnam.
Well, if you’re not grown enough to get out of your Mommy and Daddy’s basement at the age of 26, 30, what have you, then they should not be allowed to vote either. Apparently they don’t have the gumption nor maturity to do so anyway, but that’s besides the point.
If you’re living with your Mommy and Daddy at 30, then you should be a pariah, a social outcast unworthy of any government assistance.
I see the sarcasm, but grandma won’t have Medicare any longer remember…or was that part of your sarcasm?
How times have changed. At age 18, I was expected to go to college, pay for it myself, graduate, and then pay my own way in life.
Slightly OT: Has anyone seen that picture of Pelosi over at Drudge? She looks like the first recipient of Obamacare.
On December 21st, 2009 at 1:23 pm, Dexter Alarius said:
My Dad cut me off when I was 21 and blew it at college. When I went back, it was on my own dime, which changes your whole attitude! Sometimes it all works out in the end, do don’t give up hope!
I agree 26 is a bit young to still be hanging on the apron strings, but my question is: Why do you have a picture of Senator Vitter in the post?
No kidding! My parents would not even fill out the forms that would have allowed me to get a student loan because they said it was nobodies business how much money they had. So I had to work my way through school.
Can I maybe get reparations or something?
At 18 I moved out and went to college on my own dime working part time jobs. If I got a cold or fever I took medicine.
When I transferred to a university they had a medical clinic on campus, came with the tuition.
When I graduated from college I got a job that offered a health care plan.
That is the way it worked in my day.
Yes, it was…Sorry, I thought it was obvious.
When I turned 18, I quit regular school, so my parents told me the gravy train was over, and if I wanted to be a drop out, fine. It was time to get a job, and *gasp*, pay rent, pay for my insurance, help with groceries, and go to night school to get my HS diploma.
If I wanted to go to college, I could, but they made it very clear that they would only pay 1/2, and I had to pay the rest, including the above, or join the military.
So, I joined the Navy, and except for a brief period of unemployment after being medically discharged, I haven’t lived with my parents since.
The only way I can agree with carrying a child past the age of 18 on an health insurance program would be if that child was severely disabled and could not obtain it on their own…other than that, you are on your own, Johnny and Susie.
Then let’s change the age of majority to 27. Can’t care for yourself, no vote!
This should really set my 26 year old son off! He is working his butt off as a Pharmacy Tech making more than his Mother at the same evil capitalist corporation (Wal-Mart/they are the only game in this very small Military town). It’s all he can do to pay his own bills to include his health/dental insurance provided by his employer. The dental is so good my wife and I opted for that over the very expensive Delta Dental plan for retired Military. Keep on building that useless slacker class Demorats it should bring the whole system crashing down next year.
Make private insurance unaffordable and unavailable, while at the same time making the under 30 crowd more accepting of a govt. program. Slick, very slick. My son just turned 30 and has not depended on me for anything like health coverage in more than a decade. And luckily I was able to raise him to have the same mindset I have always had. Any child who has to depend on their parents past the age of 18 or until completion of college (if parents choose to do so) should feel complete shame. LoL! All those times in the past when I told them of my own mothers philosophy of “When you’re 18, for your birthday you get a cardboard suitcase and a 20 dollar bill”, must have made an impression.
It was part of the deal that he paid for his own book, and half the tuition. I thought he would expend the necessary effort if he had a financial interest. I was wrong. He blew it anyway. It’s heartbreaking. Even after the (probably) hundreds of lectures over the years (he repeated 5th grade and barely graduated HS), the rewards for good grades (rare), punishments for bad grades (often), and the example I’ve tried to set (I’m working on my 2nd Master’s degree), he just doesn’t get it. He can’t even join the military because of allergies.
This is rich. Rock the Vote is urging a sex boycott of anyone who doesn’t support health care. Here’s the pledge:
“We pledge ourselves to the health and liberty of young Americans and to government for the people … and to never f—ing you if you are against us,” the team of actors in the video says.
“We will vote against you, work against you, and once again, just in case you forgot, never ever, never ever, never ever, never ever f— you.”
http://tinyurl.com/ybrroz6
Oh, yeah, they’re f—–g us, alright.
Dexter:
Might it be possible to send your boy to a community college instead? Or is he already there?
Somebody needs to explain to me why a 26-year old needs health insurance.
This is rich. Rock the Vote is urging a sex boycott of anyone who doesn’t support health care. Here’s the pledge:
“We pledge ourselves to the health and liberty of young Americans and to government for the people … and to never f—ing you if you are against us,” the team of actors in the video says.
“We will vote against you, work against you, and once again, just in case you forgot, never ever, never ever, never ever, never ever f— you.”
Hasn’t rock the vote heard of hobbying and sp’s? With sp’s, you never need a civilian women to accept you or not.
As long as you have $200 and a cell phone, you will be able to find what you need.
Wow! Deja vu! I’m going through that with my 21yr old son. He’s failed twice at community college. He’s dealing with depression and on meds, but still doesn’t get that you still have to work and get to bed early and up on time. Part of it is his depression and the other part is lazy ass BS. He won’t be happy unitl I pop a vessel! Kids will suck the life right out of you!
This enrages me to no end! I have carried my own insurance since I was 19 years old, even though I was eligible to still be on my parents’ policy because I was in college. I’m tired of the slackers in this country dictating to those of us who have the drive and desire to do something with our lives. It’s hard enough to teach your children to be self-sufficient without all this crazy mess going on, but they are determined to make it impossible. At this rate, our country will become a poor nation of slackers because there will be no one left with the drive to fund these entitlement programs.
That is the end product of socialism and communism. With no ambitions or desires to succeed, the economy and the society stagnates. Only with threats can any forward progress be made. Why should anyone improve oneself when there isn’t any incentive? That’s why any progress is done with threats, or the point of a gun. People are born, mature and know nothing else but government care, run by “elites” who grow rich and aloof. History points that out, time and time again, yet there are those who think it will be different here. That’s insanity.
On December 21st, 2009 at 3:32 pm, cicerokid said:
Somebody needs to explain to me why a 26-year old needs health insurance.
because they all watch MTV Jackass…
That’s where he was going: Pike’s Peak Community College. It’s inconceivable to me to fail a class, much less all of them. I had required he give me access to his student portal. But it’s optional for the teachers to use it, and there is no visibility to attendance. I have no idea if he was blowing off assignments, or not showing up for class. He has no explanation (of course).
Rogue, it sounds like our boys are peas in a pod. They say it’s bad to “stay married for the sake of the children”, but I’m feeling bad about the divorce then being a long-distance dad. It’s hard to instill good work and study habits when you’re 700 miles away. His mom, and her new husband (my doctor… don’t get me started) took no interest in his school performance. He moved in with us last year, but his attitude toward work and study are too entrenched. I’m afraid he’s going to have to learn the hard way.
We are getting buried in layers of legislative consequences from decades of government intervention. Instead of repealing the legislation which caused the problem, the gov adds another on to fix it which causes more problems. The next election should be about repealing all this unconstitutional cr@p.
Let’s see here.
I was covered by my law school’s health insurance until I graduated at age 25. By then I was too old to go on either of my parents’ employers plans and after school, had to hoof it without benefits for a while (contrary to popular belief, not every l.s. grad walks out making six figures at a big shot firm). I then bought my own catastrophic coverage, which worked out really well until I got a job with health insurance coverage. Never depended on the taxpayer since then, not even during gaps in between jobs.
I was covered until 25 by my dad’s plan as long as I was a full time student. I had some health issues (diabetes) so that seems somewhat fair, but 30 is just insane. If a plan wants to offer that and you’re willing to pay–fine but to make it mandatory will just create more and more slackers. BTW my dad’s plan was paid for by you guessed it–taxpayers, he was an FBI agent and to this day pays zero premium and no co-pay. Pays for meds, but medicaid picks up the difference.
then the voting age needs to be raised to 30.
The picture on the front should have been the one with Franken wearing the diaper.
Would have been fitting on so many levels.
Adult children? You mean liberals?
DANG! My 30 year old son who is married with 7 kids would probably LOVE for someone to pick up HIS insurance bill.
And my 25 year old is taking the tests to join the Navy tomorrow. Said the job market sucks so bad, and in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia, there really aren’t many options for a job better than flippin’ burgers and rollin’ tacos. He showed up at some interviews where 300-400 people were applying for 1-2 positions.
So anybody thinking of moving here: save yourself the aggravation. Don’t.
Hey, I graduated college at 21. Got a temp job with no benefits and went without insurance for about 9 months until I found something full-time with benefits.
It wasn’t the end of the world. Who knew that, a mere decade later, the way I lived then would be criminalized in the US?
I will bring up my pet peeve once again: did you know that TARP also included a rider that mandated insurance companies to cover mental health? What does that have to do with TARP???
That’s why our premiums go up: government intervention.
Even that shouldn’t be mandated by the government. If you want to buy an insurance plan that covers your “children” up to age 40, and if there’s an insurance company willing to provide it, then you should be able to do that. And if you want an insurance plan that covers children of any age, insurers ought to be able to charge you extra for it commensurate with the cost of doing it (they’re businesses, not public charities). Either way, the government should not be mandating coverage.
This isn’t just an issue for insurance, it’s invaded our entire culture. The media and Hollywood promote the juvenile party culture with garbage like the ‘reality’ shows and Gossip Girl, The Hills, American Pie, etc. (Shows I’ve NEVER watched).
My youngest two kids are in high school and instead of being treated like the adults they are or almost are, they’re treated like 5-year-olds. When they get to college, they’ll see more of the party culture.
Just when are young people expected to grow up and face their responsibilities? You used to be considered an adult at high school or at least college. I know families that ban their teens from walking two blocks downtown in the middle of the day because it might be ‘dangerous’. Parents in our wealthy, upper-middle-class neighborhood DRIVE their kids the two blocks to the bus stop and wait for the bus with their engines running.
My daughter was able to navigate London and Paris on her own on a school trip at 16. At 18, she drives herself downtown every day for dance and deals with metered parking, traffic, DUI checkpoints, and drunks.
It is the number one job of parents to prepare their children to be adults and leave them. Parents aren’t doing their job.
That is the 6 million (or Trillion) dollar answer to the question “What the hell?”.
Liberals in a nutshell. (pun intended)
The “Mandate” of purchasing health insurance has me boiling over.
I will now be “required” to purchase an unaffordable (more so after this passes) plan that I do not want. I’ve always paid my way when I needed some minor care (dental, pain meds etc.).
But after this passes, the little money I’ve spent to cover my health needs will no longer be available due to paying a fine for not purchasing something I can not afford!
Ironically, Illegals in this country will now be able to get ANY health issue funded for free (regardless of the amount of their illegally obtained income), while I pay fines and have NO MEANS TO PAY FOR HEALTH CARE and NO ASSISTANCE!
Yeh, right, what a great bill to help “those in need” – my posterior.
I am getting really confused.
If someone has a kid that is 25, can they get govt subsidies for the insurance for that kid?
Now, if that kid happens to make a lot of money, could they still get the free handouts via the parents mandated insurance subsidies?
And if the kid has a parent giving him insurance, then does that insurance cover his kids as well? Can the subsidy for insurance span from the ‘poor’ parent thru the ‘rich’ kid to the grandchild?
There are going to be a lot of people gaming this system for a long time.
I have no idea how I managed to survive post-”college student” coverage when I was both unemployed and working job(s) that did not provide health coverage.
On a related note, my current employer-provided health care coverage is increasing by $40 per month in 2010. Hooray!
hmmm