BY: Kathleen Bray

Commencing November 8, 2009, the eligibility for group health insurance
coverage for dependent children over 18, who are enrolled in institutions of
higher education, will require a continuation of that coverage for a
dependent child, who becomes sick and has to drop out of school to recover.

Each will be treated as full-time students for up to a year after dropping
out of school. Obviously, this coverage is something you should confirm
with your carrier. Certain health care reforms would extend this insurance
for dependent children substantially beyond age 23, which is a common age
limitation, and indeed would not even require them to be in school.