Which family members can I include on my health insurance plan?

You can include anyone you claim on your taxes, such as a spouse (if you are legally married) and anyone you plan to claim as a tax dependent for the year.

This typically includes:

• Husband or wife
• Son or daughter
• Tax dependents, such as:
  • Children under age 26
  • Foster and adopted children
  • Children under shared custody arrangements
  • Children under 21 that you financially support
  • Dependent adults, including parents, siblings, or other qualifying relatives

You can only include these family members if you will claim them as dependents on your tax return.

• Spouses living apart can still be included unless you are legally divorced or legally separated
• Unmarried domestic partners can be included if you share a child together or you will claim your partner as a tax dependent

What if I’m divorced and have a child? Who includes the child on coverage?

In most cases, the parent who claims the child as a tax dependent is the one who includes the child on their health insurance application.

There may be exceptions in “head of household” situations, where a parent is still legally married but has lived separately for more than six months and pays more than half the cost of maintaining the home for the child.

You can read more in this article about what to do in situations involving divorce.

Important note

Even if you are applying for coverage only for yourself, you still need to include your full tax household when reporting income and household information. You can read more about that here.