Georgia graduates lose health insurance

As graduates from the University of Georgia contemplate their future this holiday season, many are adjusting to the uncomfortable reality that they no longer have health insurance.

Having officially left the UGA, they no longer qualify for university health insurance and many are not covered by a parental health insurance plan. Some health insurance plans in GA do not allow over-eighteens to remain on a parental health insurance plan.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, nearly 80 percent of 2009 college graduates who are looking for jobs have not found one. For those graduates not covered by parental health insurance, no job means no health insurance coverage.

The Commonwealth Fund reported last year 34 percent of college graduates will spend some time uninsured in the year after graduation. Two-thirds of young adults ages 19 to 29 without insurance coverage had gone without needed medical care because it cost too much. (www.redandblack.com)