Under Obamacare, parents are able to coddle their children all the way up to 26 years old with insurance coverage, after which they are on their own. CNN finds that really sad and published a feature of several grown-ups who are struggling over how to be self reliant for the first time in their pampered lives.
First up is Marguerite Moniot, a waitress in Roanoke. This seemingly bright and intelligent woman now 26 “felt frustrated and flummoxed” at the choices she had for coverage:
She asked her parents for help and advice. But they, too, ran into trouble trying to decipher which policy would work best for their daughter. The family had relied on her father's employer-sponsored plan through his work as an architect for years, so no one had spent much time sifting through policies.
The confusion got so bad, Moniot had to go with her mommy “to meet a certified health insurance navigator” to find a policy she could purchase and keep her doctors. (Hold on, wasn’t Obamacare supposed to make all of this super, duper easy?)
Still, there are many who can’t navigate the waters on their own, like so many generations did before them:
A new crop of young people like Moniot are falling off their parents' insurance plans when they turn 26 — the age when the Affordable Care Act stipulates that children must leave family policies.
They were then expected to be able to shop relatively easily for their own insurance on Obamacare marketplaces. But with Trump administration revisions to the law and congressional bills injecting uncertainty into state insurance markets, that task of buying insurance for the first time this year is anything but simple.
Oh, right. Obamacare is Trump's fault.
Dominique Ridley, who has asthma, just turned 26 and was kicked off her parents’ plan. This educated Radford University student had no idea what to do:
"I don't want to just go out there and apply for health insurance, and it be all kinds of wrong and I can't afford it.”
Lucky for Ridley, she scored a premium subsidy of over $500 a month which means she only has to pay around $4 per month out of pocket. That’s all well and good until she realizes she might have to pay back all that “free” money.
CNN found just one person in Virginia “who signed up without help.” Somehow, James Rowley was able to come off his dad’s health plan and find one that suited him on his own: about 8 years too late, but for millennials, it’s a start.
The face in this tweet promoting the story says it all: "Oh, crap, I’ve got to grow up:"