WE WELCOME the news that several major health insurers will extend health insurance coverage to employees' adult children up to age 26 even before a new federal law requires them to do so.

The group includes Aetna Inc., Blue Cross Blue Shield Assn. plans Humana Inc., Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc.

This extension is especially important to college students graduating this spring who, due to the recession, could find it difficult to land a job and employer-provided health insurance soon after graduation. The insurers' decision ensures that those individuals will continue to have uninterrupted coverage.

While we await more details, such as who will pick up the costs of the expanded coverage, this is a smart move on health insurers' part. They are reaping some good publicity, which they deserve in this case. They have been the target of numerous attacks—some unfair—while health care reform legislation worked its way through Congress.

We hope health insurers' willingness to do more than they have to in this case is a good omen. For health care reform to have any chance of success, the active participation and cooperation of the health insurance industry is a must.

Undoubtedly, given its size and complexity, the reform law will need numerous fixes as it is implemented. We hope that insurers will offer their expertise and continue to be a part of what inevitably will be a long-term effort to refine and improve the law.