Jun. 9, 2011 (Marketwire) --
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/09/11 -- Nearly three in four recent college graduates (74%) think it's better to live with their parents and have health insurance than to live on their own and go uninsured, according to a recent national survey of college students, graduates and parents conducted in April 2011 by global insights firm Kelton Research and sponsored by eHealthInsurance (NASDAQ: EHTH).
The survey shows some tension and some harmony in the financial relationship between today's college graduates and their parents. Most parents are expecting to provide more financial assistance -- and for a longer period after graduation -- than their children expect to receive. However, in many cases that assistance doesn't extend to health insurance coverage.
- Most parents (54%) expect to provide financial assistance of one sort or another to grads for a year or more after graduation
- However, substantial majorities of current students (65%) and recent grads (70%) expect to receive financial support from their parents for less than a year or not at all
- Nearly eight in ten parents (78%) say they would be willing to allow their adult children to live with them after graduation, but only one in four (25%) would be willing to help them purchase health insurance on their own
- Most students (54%) and grads (74%) would rather live at home the first year after college if it meant having health insurance, rather than strike out on their own; with a taste of the real world already, grads find the trade-off especially tempting
The survey also illustrates a lack of awareness about portions of health care reform on the part of students, grads and parents:
- A majority of college students (53%) and grads (63%) are aware that they can stay on their parents' health plans until they turn 26; most parents (76%) know this too
- However, nearly four in ten parents (38%) don't intend to keep their college grads on their health insurance plan until age 26
- Only two in ten students (20%) and grads (20%) are aware of other provisions of the law that went into effect in 2010 providing better access to preventive medical care
- Even fewer (11% of students and 13% of grads) know that lifetime coverage limits for covered medical services have been removed from most new health insurance plans
- Nearly three in ten parents (28%) think that 2010 college grads are now required to purchase health insurance; in fact, this provision of health care reform doesn't come into effect until 2014
A PDF copy of Kelton Research's analysis of these trends is now available.