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disease like MS—the parents’
health insurance plans would be
vastly preferable to a mini-med.
“A lot of parents are nervous
about this, especially if their
child is working part-time while
attending school. Mini-meds
don’t meet a lot of basic
standards for health insurance,”
explained Smith.
Young Invincibles has asked
the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) to
clarify whether someone is disqualified from staying on his or
her parents’ insurance if offered
a mini-med at their workplace.
The Invincibles’ latest campaign, the Graduation Toolkit,
available at younginvincibles.
org/toolkit, explains insurance
options to people leaving school,
including what to look for in
a plan and how to sign up to
stay on a parent’s plan. “Recent
graduates need to know how
they can get care out of school,”
Smith said.
Equality for college health plans
Young Invincibles is also working on another issue: college
health plan disparities. Not all
college health plans are created
equal, and many offer only
limited benefits. With as many
as three million students covered
by college health plans, limited
coverage could mean financial
disaster for a lot of people.
HHS is proposing a regulation
that would redefine college health
plans as “individual health insurance coverage,” giving students
who enroll in them
the same rights
and protections
as are given under
the ACA’s Patient’s
Telling a story helps fine-tune
advocacy efforts
Bill of Rights (visit
healthcare.gov and
search for “Patient’s
Young Invincibles is asking students to tell
them about their college health care plan
by visiting gettingcovered.org/stories.
The Society is asking MOMENTUM
readers to tell their health insurance stories
by sending an email to editor@nmss.org.
Bill of Rights”). This
would mean that as
of January 1, 2014,
college health plans could not
deny students coverage because
of a pre-existing condition. Right
now, children and young adults
up to age 19 cannot be denied
coverage because of a pre-existing
condition, but this may leave
some with a hard-to-bridge gap.
said, “you can end up paying a
lot out of pocket.”
There are some options for
those with pre-existing condi-
tions until the ACA-mandated
ban on exclusions for people of
all ages takes effect.
They also warn students not
to go without health care coverage for more than 63 days after
their college plan ends. Until
2014, some employer plans are
still able to impose a pre-existing
condition exclusion period of up
to 12 months. To learn more,
visit www.healthcare.gov/news/
factsheets/students02092011a
.html.
Covering pre-existing
conditions now
Multiple sclerosis may be
relatively rare, but pre-existing
conditions are not. According to
a report from the Families USA
Foundation, 16% (or one in six)
people age 18 to 24 have a pre-existing condition that can lead
to an insurer denying coverage.
“And if you don’t have health
insurance, or you do not have
very good insurance,” Smith
Pre-existing Condition
Insurance Plans (PCIPs) guarantee coverage for people who
meet certain eligibility requirements. The requirements—and
the premiums—vary depending
on whether the program is run
by a state or by the federal government. Visit www.healthcare
.gov/law/features/choices/pre-existing-condition-insurance-plan to learn more about the
program and what your state
offers, or call an MS Navigator®
at 1-800-344-4867.
Prevention
Just as flossing can prevent
cavities, preventive care
screenings, immunizations and
counseling can head off health
problems. Under ACA, health
insurance plans created after
March 23, 2010, fully cover
many preventive services with
no copayment, coinsurance or
