Medicaid
Medicaid was expanded through the ACA to cover low-income people. Qualified individuals can get free or low-cost medical care. People within the 133% poverty level qualify, but to get it, students will need to apply through their county health system and submit an application or through the health insurance market.
Marketplace Plan
People can visit Healthcare.gov to find and buy their health insurance policy. Students can purchase state or federally-run health coverage. Any U.S. national can apply for coverage, but incarcerated persons are ineligible. Reach out to Healthcare.gov to apply.
Workplace Health Insurance
Students/young adults can attain workplace offered health insurance without using the Marketplace to find it. Any workplace with 50 or more employees must offer health insurance. People who work full-time can apply for coverage, but the student must reach out to their human resource office to apply for it.
Catastrophic Plan
Any major and unexpected medical expenses are covered with these plans and offer limited-based coverage for preventative care. You also only get three visits to a doctor. Catastrophic plans are designed for people 30 and younger who cannot afford regular health insurance and are denied Medicaid for making too much.
To get this coverage, a person must go to the Healthcare.gov website to start the process. As you see, there are numerous ways in which a student can attain medical coverage. If a student is already on their parents’ health insurance plan and leaves for college, they can remain on that plan until they hit 26 years old. The idea behind the ACA’s mandate on up-to-26-year-old coverage was to help fill the gap students had after leaving home.
Before the ACA, many colleges didn’t offer health insurance coverage. Today, most, if not all, of them do offer affordable health coverage. There is no reason why a person should not have health insurance.
