‘‘SEC. 2714 ø42 U.S.C. 300gg–14¿. EXTENSION OF DEPENDENT COVERAGE.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A group health plan and a health insurance
issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage that provides dependent coverage of children shall continue to make such coverage available for an adult child until the child turns 26 years of age. Nothing in this section shall require a health plan or a health insurance issuer described in the preceding sentence to make coverage available for a child of a child receiving dependent coverage. øAs revised by section 2301(b) of HCERA¿
‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to define the dependents to which coverage shall be made available under subsection (a).
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be
construed to modify the definition of ‘dependent’ as used in the In-ternal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to the tax treatment of the cost of coverage.
And here’s what the Secretary has said:
http://obamacarewatcher.org/portal/articles/155
(b) Restrictions on plan definition of dependent. With respect to a child who has not attained age 26, a plan or issuer may not define dependent for purposes of eligibility for dependent coverage of children other than in terms of a relationship between a child and the participant. Thus, for example, a plan or RIN 1210-AB41 Comment Page 3 July 9, 2010 issuer may not deny or restrict coverage for a child who has not attained age 26 based on the presence or absence of the child’s financial dependency (upon the participant or any other person), residency with the participant or with any other person, student status, employment, or any combination of those factors.1