About 2.5 million more young adults have insurance coverage compared to the number who would have been covered without healthcare reform, according to the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A provision in the Affordable Care Act that took effect in September in 2010 allows young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26.

Touting the benefits of healthcare reform, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the Affordable Care Act has ensured that “2.5 million more young adults don’t have to live with the fear and uncertainty of going without health insurance.”

Data from the first three months of 2011 showed that 1 million more young adults had insurance coverage compared to a year ago. The numbers announced last week show a continuation of coverage gains from the healthcare law with students able to retain coverage after graduating from high school and college in May and June.

The new data are consistent with estimates from surveys released earlier in the year, according to HHS. Those surveys have shown an increase in the number and percentage of young adults ages 19 to 25 with health insurance coverage.

Specifically, the Census Bureau and the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index Survey, as well as the National Health Interview Survey release of data through March 2011, reported similar trends through early 2011.