The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was created perhaps to insure the groups most likely to be deprived from health care. There are millions of working Americans who cannot afford to support themselves and/or family and pay the high premiums of health insurance. Although the federal wage is constantly being raised to meet the increases cost of living, health insurance unfortunately still is not affordable for most.

The group that will benefit mostly are the youth in transition, who are leaving childhood and becoming independent, adult workers. The age group is between 19-25 and one third of them don’t have health insurance. This demographic sometimes finds it hard to make financial ends meet. National groups that work on behalf of the young adults claim that three-fourths of young adults neither qualify for the group health insurance nor can be covered by their parents health plans before ACA became law.

Typically first jobs are entry-level positions with minimum wage. College expenses including books, tuition and other fees are first priority when payday comes. Health insurance takes a backseat to these expenses.

The Affordable Care Act now allows for these hard working youth to be covered under their parents’ health plans.

The California Glitch

The State of California has adopted the insurance plans were children under 26 years old can be included on parents’ policies. In 2011, parents enrolling their children on their plans, who had no other form of health plans, began to increase drastically. However, parents began to see a taxable income increase when their employers expanded their group coverage to add youth until age 26.

Although the federal law exempts such benefits from taxable income, several states like California do not. California has been in works with a legislation that would mirror the federal tax rules.  Due to California’s high deficit and budgetary woes, it may be a while before the law can be included in budget.

California insurance plans are aware of this inconvenience that parents are under. The Tonik Plan is specifically for young adults under age 30. This plan is only for those without pre-existing conditions. This plan is only temporary as the Affordable Care Act will be fully instated and voids selling of this plan.

Health care reform will disallow insurance companies from denying coverage to those over age 18 with pre-existing conditions. This will take effect in 2014. Knowing all the options available can be a daunting task for parents. However, the Tonik plan is a great alternative option to making sure the youth are protected.