Health Insurance Plans for Minors

Children in America have access to both public and private health insurance, of which both choices provide broad coverage options and a variety of premium cost options. The passage of the 2010 health reform law seeks to expand coverage availability to all children, offering minors access to the earliest benefits from the law before eventually extending benefits to all Americans in 2014.

Government-Sponsored Plans

• The federal government works in conjunction with state level governments to provide children in low-income households with access to low-cost or free health insurance. Children in households with the lowest income -- usually less than 100 percent of the federal poverty limit -- qualify for Medicaid, which provides free medical benefits from participating health providers. Children in higher income households may qualify for their state's children's health insurance plan, or CHIP, which also provides comprehensive health coverage, though often with a low cost-sharing requirement. Eligibility for both Medicaid and CHIP depends on household size and income, and each U.S. state determines its own guidelines for eligibility.

Private Health Plans

• Parents and guardians with incomes too high to enroll their children in Medicaid or CHIP can purchase private health insurance for their children in one of two ways. Parents with existing private insurance coverage -- either individually purchased or acquired through an employer's group health insurance plan -- may add their children to their health insurance policies as dependents. Most insurers offer an open-enrollment period at least once per year, at which time parents can add children. If, however, a parent experiences a qualifying event, such as the birth of a child or a marriage that results in a step-child, insurers provide a minimum 30-day window during which time the parent may add the family additions without waiting until open enrollment.

  Parents without private health insurance coverage may instead choose to purchase an individual insurance policy for each minor child, though the passage of The Affordable Care Act in 2010 resulted in a lack of availability of such policies in many U.S. states.

The Affordable Care Act

• When Congress and President Obama enacted The Affordable Care Act in 2010, one of the first provisions included protections for children with pre-existing medical conditions. If a minor child under age 19 has an existing medical condition, such as asthma or diabetes, no private health insurer can deny coverage to the child due to medical history. Though this law became effective for children in 2010, all Americans, regardless of age, will enjoy the same protections beginning in January 2014.

Coverage

• All new health insurance policies underwritten following the passage of The Affordable Care Act must include benefits for certain preventive care coverage for children at no cost to the parent. For example, insurers must pay 100 percent of the cost of recommended childhood immunizations, hearing screenings, well-child visits and vision screenings without charging a copay, coinsurance or subjecting the expenses for such services to a plan deductible.