Parents have until Sept. 30, should they wish to add their children between ages 19-26 to their endowed health and dental plans or enroll in/increase their Select Benefits elections for reimbursement for medical expenses incurred by their children in this age bracket. September also is the month to apply for child care grant subsidies.

The new national health reform legislation, effective Jan. 1, 2011, allows parents to cover their young adult children on their health plans and pre-tax medical reimbursement accounts until Dec. 31 of the year in which their children reach age 26. Cornell is holding a special enrollment period, ending Sept. 30, that allows faculty and staff to enroll their eligible children on their endowed health and endowed dental plans, effective retroactively to Sept. 1. Children in this age range are eligible for the new coverage regardless of their status -- it doesn't matter if they are full-time students, married, live at home or not, work for an employer that offers health insurance or are not dependents on their parents' tax returns. In order to enroll your child, he/she must not have turned age 26 on or before Aug. 31.

New York state has not yet announced its plans for extending health and dental coverage.

Also, both endowed and contract college employees already in the Select Benefits medical reimbursement program can now submit medical bills incurred by their eligible children that insurance plans did not cover, going back to March 30, 2010. During the special enrollment period, all employees also may enroll in or increase their Select Benefits medical reimbursement plans if they have a child between the ages of 19 and 26.

Also due in September: Applications for Cornell's 2011 child care grant subsidies for faculty and staff members must be completed online and submitted to Benefit Services, 130 Day Hall, in paper copy along with the signature page and supporting documentation, either hand-delivered or U.S. postmarked by Oct. 1. The university's Child Care Grant Subsidy Program helps faculty and staff pay for child care expenses by granting awards of up to $5,000 a year, tax free, to cover legally recognized infant and toddler day care, preschool and prekindergarten programs, child care for school holidays, school-age summer day camps or programs, and before- and after-school care.

For more information, see http://www.hr.cornell.edu/benefits, e-mail benefits@cornell.edu or call the Resource Center at Benefit Services at 607-255-3936 workdays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.