Michelle's Law, which was signed into law by George W. Bush last year, came into effect Oct. 9, 2009.

Named for Michelle Morse, a student who lost her insurance coverage under her parents’ plan because cancer treatment required her to quit school and lose her full-time student status, the law would allow students to take up to a year of medical leave without losing their health insurance. 

This month, Lafourche Parish School Board in Louisiana was the first group to exploit a loophole in the law which allows for self-insured entities to opt out of Michelle’s Law.  While students of Lafourche Parish School Board employees covered under their parents’ plan will not be guaranteed coverage under Michelle’s Law, the board says that they intend to review each student’s situation on a case-by-case basis.

The Lafourche case is one that needs to be followed closely by those in the Consumer Driven Healthcare market. Their approach to students’ coverage during medical leave could prove to be either a victory for MERPs and self-funding private insurance if handled well or a disaster that could fuel the fires of harsher regulations and reforms that would deliver significant blows to the CDH movement if handled poorly.