By Michael Margavitch

My fellow college students, just a mere few days ago, our post-graduation situation seemed quite grim. With the economy still unstable and unemployment on the rise, our ability to become completely independent from our parents and provide for ourselves seems less and less likely. Now, the government is giving us some assistance to help us on our sure to be rocky road after college. What assistance am I referring to? I’m talking in the way of health care. Instead of becoming independent right out of college, one can stay on their parents’ health care policy until the age of 26.

This new stipulation comes from part of the health care reform bill, whose official name is “The Affordable Care Act.” The reason for this particular reform is that a good amount of the uninsured Americans are made up of people in their twenties. Fresh out of college and with student loans to pay off, this age group simply is not as easily able to obtain health insurance as their parents are. About 30 percent of young adults up to age 26 have no form of health insurance. About thirteen million of the forty seven million people in this country are living without health insurance.

It is kind of ridiculous that while many other countries are able to take care of their citizens free of charge because of an immaculately run health care system (here’s looking at you, Australia), nearly one-sixth of our population has no health insurance and are thereby unable to pay the sky-high medical costs for any illness or life threatening-experience they may face. This is a good first step. Now a large percentage of those without the ability to get their own health care will be given enough time on their parents’ policy to get their life in order and be independent by 26. These are not just statistics that we are helping to shrink; we are also helping people.

So how exactly does this plan work? Since September 23, when the law was enacted, all of those under the age of 26 without an employer-sponsored health plan will be able to remain under parental health policies. This works for previously dropped college students as well, as long as they re-enroll. This also applies to those who have not attended or completed college, those who do not live at home with their parents, and those who are not listed as dependents on their parents’ tax returns.

Furthermore, those who have not attended college were probably kicked off of the family policy as soon as they turned 18. Also, some independence is encouraged by covering those not living with their parents and those who are listed as dependent on parental tax returns. Staying on your parents’ health care does not mean you have to be smothered by them. Letting previously dropped college students under the age of 26 re-enroll is only fair in this case. We cannot let those on the precipice of graduating skate by while letting those who have struggled for years continue to struggle. “The Affordable Care Act” is good for both those people that make up the country statistics, as well as working to lower the statistics rates.