If you are the sole caregiver of your elderly mother, you may have questions regarding how to provide her with the best health insurance benefits possible. Medicare and Medicaid might be options, but may not be comprehensive enough for her health care needs. Depending on your employer, you may be able to add your mother to your work-sponsored health insurance policy.
Adding Mother to Health Insurance Policy
Given the high cost and risk involved in providing health insurance benefits for the elderly, few employers allow their employees to include their mothers or fathers as dependents on their health insurance policies. Fortunately, there are some employers in the United States that give their employees the option of adding their parents as dependents--and the number is growing as the demand for such benefits increases.
If you are unsure whether your employer will permit you to add your mother as a dependent on your health insurance policy, you have a few options. First, you can refer to your Benefits Summary to determine if your plan permits parents to be added as dependents. You should have received this summary upon electing health insurance coverage with your employer.
If you can't find the information you need, you can also contact your company's Human Resources Department. The decision to include parents as dependents is determined by your employer--not the health insurance company.
If your company will permit you to add your mother to as a dependent, you'll need to determine whether she meets your company's qualifications to be included as a dependent on your health insurance policy. Each company that allows parents to be included as dependents sets their own eligibility requirements in regards to age, dependent status and eligibility for other health insurance plans.