Quality Health Care For Children of Every Income Level

If you are an adult without medical coverage, you probably already know there is little help from the current health care system. However, for children, it is quite easy, through government health programs, to obtain needed health care coverage. Making sure your children are covered in case of a medical emergency is very good to know.

Health care for children of low income and minimum wage families was made available through Medicaid and aid for dependent children government programs. This however left a gap in coverage for middle income families that needed help providing affordable health care for their children. To make sure all children, regardless of family income levels had sufficient health care; health care programs were created by the government to serve these needs.

The New Health Care Bill Now Allows Children to Be Covered Until 26 Years Old

Under the new health care bill, U.S. citizens will be required to purchase health insurance or pay a fine, which, beginning in 2014, will be $95 for an individual and then increase until 2016, when it will plateau at $695 or 2.5% of a person's annual income. This health reform may prove to be a challenge when it comes to "young invincible," individuals 30 and younger who typically can afford insurance but choose not to have it. Disproportionately uninsured, young adults, ages 19 to 29, comprise about 17% of population under 65 but nearly 30% of all uninsured Americans. Although many of these are so-called "young invincible," a large percentage of them are simply unable to afford insurance; almost 70% of all uninsured young adults are those who live in low-income households. At the same time, many of them work at jobs that do not offer employer- based health care, such as those beginning their careers in small companies. Fortunately, key provisions in the new health care legislation provide solutions for those younger citizens struggling to obtain affordable health insurance, one of the most significant of which will allow them to be covered under their parents' insurance plans until they reach 26 years of age.