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Who Can Be Added as a Dependent on My Health Insurance Plan?

When you buy a health insurance plan for yourself, you can get coverage that extends to your dependents; likewise, if you are an employer covering your workers, you can provide coverage for any dependents they have. If you are planning on purchasing a family health insurance plan to cover your dependents, it’s important to ensure you know they are eligible to join your family health insurance plan before you make your final purchase.

Dependents for Taxes and Health Insurance

According to healthcare.gov, if you can count somebody as a dependent on your taxes, they are also dependent on your health insurance plan. What’s more, you are obligated to provide health insurance for anyone you claim to be tax dependent. If you intend to include a child or other relative as a tax dependent, you should also ensure they are included in your health insurance plan.

Your Kids Are Your Dependents

If you have children, they are possibly the first people that come to mind when talking about dependents. Generally speaking, you can include any kids who fit the following criteria:

• Age– Your kid has to be under the age of 26.
• Relationship to You– For a child to be eligible as your dependent, they need to be your biological child, your stepchild, your adopted kid, or a foster child you are taking care of. If they have any sisters, brothers, half-sisters, half-brothers, or children of their own, you can also include them on your health insurance plan.
• Length of Residency– A kid only qualifies as your dependent if they have lived with you for at least six months.
• Income Contribution– Although someone can be your dependent while working and contributing to their costs, they can’t be their primary source of support. This means a kid’s income must be less than half of the cost of their support expenses for them to qualify as your dependent.
• Tax Filing– A child can’t be your dependent if they file a joint tax return that year.
• Other Claims– A child can’t be claimed as a dependent by more than one household. Thus, irrespective of your relationship to the child, if someone else claims them as a dependent, you cannot.

In addition, keeping track of what’s required to claim your child as a dependent, you should also remember what isn’t. Your child does not have to be living with you when you enroll them in your health insurance plan, provided they have lived with you long enough to meet the residency requirement. It also does not matter whether they are married or whether they are employed and are eligible to enroll in that employer’s health insurance plan. As long as they meet these other requirements, you can typically still include them in your coverage.

Adding Your Spouse as a Dependent

In most instances, adding a spouse to your health insurance plan is acceptable. After getting married, you typically have up to 60 days to enroll in a new plan or add your spouse as a dependent.

Bear in mind that if you or your spouse have access to employer-sponsored health insurance, but choose to purchase your own family plan on a health insurance exchange, you likely will not qualify for Obamacare subsidies.

Additional Health Insurance Dependents

Besides your child and spouse, you can include other relatives as dependents under certain conditions, such as:

• If no one else has named them as their dependent
• If their gross annual income is less than $3,000
• If you are responsible for providing more than half of the financial support, they depend on

In addition to relatives, you can include others who have lived in your house for at least a year, provided they meet all of the criteria mentioned above.

Coverage Considerations

Once you have named someone your dependent, they will usually have access to the same plan or set of plans you use. Depending on where you get your health insurance, they may also be able to select among plans that you rely on. If you claim someone as a dependent, they will be able to enroll in either the health insurance plan or the dental plan or enroll in both, according to the small business administration.

Health Insurance Plans is committed to helping you understand all the nuances of health coverage. visit our website for more information on health insurance or start looking at family health insurance plans.

Resources and References:

• Young Adult Dependent
• Marketplace Coverage