Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

One of the first provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to take effect allows young people to remain on their parents' insurance policies up until age 26, which will help more than 4.7 million uninsured young Americans. PPACA requires health insurance companies to offer this extension on September 23, 2010.

Fortunately, several large health insurance companies decided to take immediate action to cover college students graduating in May. Instead of asking those young people to wait until September to get back on their family's plan, they will qualify immediately for the extended coverage. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called on all insurance companies to begin covering young adults voluntarily before the September deadline. The full list of these insurance companies is available on the White House blog, so you can check to see if you and your family will be able to extend coverage now.

The IRS has information on the tax treatment of health care benefits provided with respect to children under age 27.