He’s 26 years old but still sees a pediatrician: Why some young adults don’t move on

Building Blocks

When Joann Alfonzo, a pediatrician in Freehold, N.J., walked into her office recently she mentally rolled her eyes when she saw her next patient: a 26-year-old car salesman in a suit and tie.

“That’s no longer a kid. That’s a man,” she recalls thinking.

Yet, Alfonzo wasn’t that surprised. In the past five years, she has seen the age of her patients rise, as more young adults remain at home and, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, on their parents’ health insurance until age 26.

“First it was 21, then 23 and now 26,” Alfonzo says. “A lot of them can’t afford to live on their own and get their own insurance, or even afford the co-pay. And if insurance is offered at work, there’s generally a cost share involved, if insurance is provided at all.”

The idea of young adults continuing to see their longtime pediatricians has been around for quite some time — it was a laugh line on “Friends” in its last TV season in 2004. Rachel takes her child to a pediatrician, she sees the child’s father, Ross, in the waiting room and realizes he’s still a patient.

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