As of Sept. 23, young adults can choose to remain under the coverage of their parents’ health care insurance plans until the age of 26 due to legislation contained in President Barack Obama’s health care reform bill.

George Brown, executive director of University Recreation and the chair of the 2010-2011 Student Health Committee, said the legislation will benefit the college-age demographic.

“The effect is that you can stay on your parents’ coverage for a longer period of time,” Brown said. “The biggest effect, though, is for students contemplating graduate school.  It will definitely help there because students will have the option to stay on their parents’ plan.”

Brown said this new option for coverage could supply an incentive to attend graduate school as an alternative to the slow job market. Under previous health care legislation, people had to worry about seeking out or doing without health care insurance after obtaining an undergraduate degree.

“This [provision] loosens one level of stress,” Brown said.

He said the Student Health Center has allowed its faculty and staff to add dependents onto their health care plan until the age of 26, and this action was done to be consistent with the health care reform being passed. The previous cut-off age for a dependent was 23.

The small business sector of the economy will experience the worst effects of this legislation, Brown said. Although small businesses have complained of not being able to adhere to the new health care policies while also staying competitive, he said he sees the new legislation as a move forward.

“It’s tough for small businesses,” Brown said, “but I can’t help but see widespread health care coverage as a good thing.”

Lea Yerby, an assistant professor in the Department of Community and Rural Medicine and an investigator in its Institute for Rural Health Research, said the reform will change the way the generation views health care.

“I think that it will affect the generation’s perception of health care and their culture of how they use health care,” Yerby said.

She said previous health care legislation failed to cover young adults who may have parents without a health insurance plan that would cover them or who may be looking for a job or a graduate school upon graduation.

“A lot of [the millions uninsured last year] were young adults caught in that gap,” Yerby said. “A lot of time, people get caught in that middle place.”

Yerby said the health care reform will hopefully instigate students to be proactive in seeking immunizations and screenings since medical measures of disease prevention are covered under the legislation.

As for the reform’s impact on the business community, Yerby said she does not believe an accurate projection can be made at this time since the bill is scheduled to unravel from now until 2019.

“Legislation always has unintended consequences but also has unexpected benefits,” Yerby said. “I don’t think anyone has a crystal ball.”

Yerby said she expects to see a trend of students who remain on their parents’ insurance plans since the option is more convenient and less expensive to follow.

Nat Graham, a freshman majoring in philosophy, said he believes the reform will have a beneficial impact on citizens.

“I think it’s really good that [young adults] can be covered by their parents longer when they’re trying to find a job or a school,” Graham said. “They don’t have to worry about the financial aspect [of health care insurance], which is helpful, because as students we worry about the cost of things.”

Graham also said his thoughts rarely turn to the cost of health care since he is covered under his parents’ plan.

“I probably will continue to be on [my parents’ plan] until I’m 26,” he said.