Normally, parents own the best insurance policies and add coverage for their children. But, what would happen if a child had a better insurance policy? Can I cover my parents and sibling with my health insurance policy?
Parental Insurance
Parents might work for many years at a company and gradually accrue very good health insurance coverage. They might have more wealth and be able to afford better car or homeowner’s insurance. Teenagers are added to parent’s car insurance policies for a number of good reasons.
Teenagers don’t have jobs, income or cars. They use their parent’s vehicle while learning to drive. Therefore, adding the children to a parent’s insurance policy only makes sense.
As more adults stay at home due to bad economic conditions, they are trying to stay on their parent’s insurance policies for a longer period of time. This only makes sense since the parents still probably pay for many of their children’s expenses.
Household Insurance
If you have a great healthcare policy, it only makes sense to extend healthcare benefits to other members of your family. Families share expenses, so why shouldn’t they share insurance coverage? You want your loved ones to be happy too.
A good example is a contagious disease. If one family member gets it, others might get it too. With preventative healthcare, you can protect all of your family members.
Another issue is the high cost of healthcare. If your parents cannot afford to keep up their payments on medical bills, they might file bankruptcy. That would have a negative impact on all family members, including you.
Adding family members to your health insurance is a pro-active, preventative action. You might not use all of the benefits, so why not share them?
Great Jobs, Great Insurance
If you have a great job, you might have a great health insurance policy. You should ask your healthcare service provider if you can add your parents and siblings. Unfortunately, most are very hesitant to do so.
Dependent Status
Unfortunately, most health care providers only permit the addition of your wife and children. They have not advanced to parents or siblings, yet. Is there any way to work around this?
You could claim your parents and siblings as dependents. You would need to file legal documents and show that you are paying for the vast majority of their financial bills. While this is commendable, you will need to think long and hard about this tremendous responsibility.
Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of such a course of action. Some insurance companies might allow you to add coverage for other family members, but it will be very costly.
Jim Treebold is a North Carolina based writer. He lives by the mantra of “Learn 1 new thing each day”! Jim loves to write, read, pedal around on his electric bike and dream of big things. Drop him a line if you like his writing, he loves hearing from his readers!