Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group held a press conference yesterday highlighting how the new federal health care law will affect young people, particularly students, as part of the group's Health Care Day of Action.
Wisconsin State Representative Kelda Helen Roys, Wisconsin State Senator and Chair of the Senate Health Committee John Erpenbach, and Citizen Action of Wisconsin Director Robert Craig spoke about how the new law directly and positively affects students.
As of yesterday, when parts of the law went into effect, a projected 14,700 young adults in Wisconsin will be allowed to remain on their parents' health insurance plans until age 26.
""With outrageous student loans, the last thing students should have to worry about are health care debts upon graduation,"" said Gardner.
At the event, WISPIRG presented stories of UW System students who have already benefited from the program.
According to Gardner, UW-Milwaukee student Claudia Jankowski lost her health insurance at the age of 19 when she left school to care for an ailing grandparent.
Jankowski could not afford an individual plan, which forced her to go without health care, Gardner said.
""With these reforms enacted, she's now back on her father's insurance plan and recently went for a physical that she's had to delay for years,"" Gardner said.
