ichiban Is It Better to Stay on Your Parents’ Health Care Plan or Enroll in an Employer’s?

Young workers in their first full-time jobs may face a decision that Americans didn’t have years ago: whether to enroll in a health insurance plan offered through their employer or stay on their parents’ policy.

It’s a choice that’s possible because the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health law passed in 2010, generally allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health plan until age 26. The option is available even if they have jobs that offer health coverage, are married or don’t live with their parents.

Health coverage can be complex, so opting to stay on your parents’ plan isn’t necessarily a simple decision. “Like everything else with health care, evaluating insurance options is just extremely annoying,” said Dan Weissmann, host of “An Arm and a Leg,” a podcast focused on the cost of health care.

Martha Sanchez, director of health care policy and advocacy at Young Invincibles, a group focused on young adults, said people who were early in their careers might find themselves changing jobs often, so it could be simpler to stay with a plan they know, rather than switching to a new employer’s offering.

“It’s just easier to not go through the hassle,” she said.

But you also shouldn’t assume you’ll stay on your parents’ plan, Ms. Sanchez said, adding that it was “really up to the parents.”

Depending on the details of the coverage, your parents may be able to save money by dropping you from their own job-based plan. Insurers typically base premiums on tiers of health coverage — for instance, one rate if just the employee is covered, a higher rate for both the employee and a spouse, and an even higher rate for family coverage, which includes children. If you don’t have siblings who are also covered by your parents’ plan, they could pay less by dropping you from their health coverage.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.ichiban

• to
• Is
• It
• better
• ichiban