By next year, adult children—even college graduates—can be taken into their parent's health care plan thanks to the new health care reform law.

Starting in 2011, health plans will offer health care coverage for adult children until they turn 26 years old. Until now, kids have been booted off parental insurance once they finished college.

“;You might have a lot of folks in that category who work only part time, who only go to school part time,”; said Jennifer Diesman, vice president of government relations at the Hawaii Medical Service Association.

As it is written, the law has few restrictions. It does not define a dependent in the same terms as the tax code does. That means the child could be covered regardless of whether he or she lives at home, owns a home, is married or has children.

Congress originally passed the bill with a restriction against married children, but an 11th-hour budget reconciliation bill that passed in addition to the main legislation made marital status irrelevant.

The only exception is for children who already have employer-sponsored insurance. Hawaii already mandates insurance for people who work more than 19 hours a week.

The law also does not apply to grandchildren.

Adults ages 19 through 29 have the highest uninsured rate of any age group in the U.S., comprising of more than 30 percent of the overall uninsured population, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

There are 25 states that have increased the age at which children can be covered, usually up to 25, but many of the state laws apply only to full-time students.

The dependent coverage extension will not kick in until January 2011. This gives local insurance providers time to study the law and reorganize their plans.

Currently the state's two largest providers—HMSA and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii—offer dependent coverage for adult children, but with a number of requirements.

At HMSA, different groups have a specified student maximum age, and the child must not be married. If the child is 19 or older, they must be a full-time college student and must be wholly dependent on the parent for financial support.

Diesman said many of the company's plans have a maximum age of 25.

Kaiser Permanente also offers student coverage with restrictions up to age 24. Kaiser spokeswoman Lynn Kenton said that if an employer offers another plan with a higher age cap, Kaiser will match the age eligibility.

Kaiser also recently started its Bridge Program, which offers free insurance up to a year for people between 19 and 24. They must not be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or QUEST, must live on Oahu, and must meet certain financial eligibility requirements.

“;It's a great program for students who might not have insurance,”; Kenton said.

Kenton and Diesman said their respective companies are reviewing the 2,400-page law and seeing where changes need to be made.

Nationally there is concern that premiums may rise because of the extended coverage. Locally, Diesman said the change will be less significant because all employers offer coverage for full-time employees.

Although she could not comment on how local premiums will be affected, she said young adults are a lower-risk age group and draw less from the insurance pool by needing less medical attention.

“;Any time you can bring younger people into the health coverage pool is a good thing,”; she said. “;Generally speaking, younger folks have lower health care risks, use less health care services. So they can contribute positively to the overall pool.”;