With all of the changes that new Health Care Reform has brought this year, many contractors and their Davis-Bacon and prevailing wage employees have questions.  One of the biggest questions that employee’s may have is “how does the new dependent coverage affect me and my dependents?”  We hope that the information we have gathered below may help shed some light on the subject.

Under the new Health Care Reform, dependent coverage has been extended to young adults until they turn 26, whether or not they are in school.  The regulations require that:

  1. All health plan participants receive a written notice of the opportunity to enroll their dependents under this new provision. 
  2. All employers provide a 30-day open enrollment period to allow participants to add their dependents up to age 26 that are not currently on the health plan.  

Coverage for these children will be effective with your contract renewal date.  This means that if your contract renews January 1, 2010 that is when the coverage will be effective.