Can I stay on my parents' health plan until 26?

What the government has said, on the record

Here's how a federal official described it, on the record:

“The ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights allows young adults to stay on their parents' plans until age 26 and ensures that consumers receive the care they need when they get sick and need it most by prohibiting rescissions and lifetime dollar limits on coverage for care, and beginning to phase out annual dollar limits.”

— Kathleen Sebelius, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, 2012-03-07 (source)

Editor's note: From 2012 testimony by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. The core protections remain current: young adults can stay on a parent's plan to age 26, and rescissions and lifetime dollar limits are prohibited. The annual-dollar-limit phase-out she describes completed in 2014 — annual dollar limits on essential health benefits are now fully prohibited. Always confirm current rules on HealthCare.gov.