as of october 1 there will be a number of options available to young adults. first in states that expand medicaid coverage all individuals and families under age 65 with incomes up to $15 282 for an individual and $31 322 for a family of four would become eligible for medicaid. this change extends eligibility for medicaid to an entire population of young adults previously ineligible for this free coverage. for young adults whose income is too high to qualify for medicaid and who do not have coverage through their parents or employers a number of other options will be available to them through the state health insurance exchanges. while young adults may select from any of the plan types offered on the exchanges (e. g. ppos hmos epos) there are two types of plans that may be particularly attractive to young healthy individuals: high deductible health plans (hdhps) and catastrophic plans. a hdhp is a health insurance plan that generally does not cover out-of-pocket expenses until an individual reaches his/her annual deductible (aside from expenses for certain preventive care identified by the plan such as childhood immunizations well-baby exams and periodic physicals). true to their name hdhps have very high deductibles. on the other hand premiums for these plans are usually substantially lower than premiums for other plan types. in addition hdhps often are offered with health savings accounts. these features make hdhps attractive to young healthy individuals who have relatively low out-of-pocket expenses. for young adults under the age of 30 another option available on the state insurance exchanges are catastrophic plans. a catastrophic plan is a plan that generally covers 3 primary care visits per year before an individual reaches his/her deductible. these plans provide coverage for essential health benefits after the plan's out-of-pocket maximum is met. in addition as alluded to above young adults who qualify as dependents may remain on their parents' policies until the age of 26.
what are some of the free and low cost insurance options that will be available to young people starting october 1st?