If you have individual health insurance the answer is definitely - NO. If you are covered under an employer's group health plan the answer is almost always No as well. However, there is a very narrow circumstance where you might be able to add a parent onto your group coverage. I've never seen it in real life but here's how I understand it could be approached.
First, you have to determine if your parent qualifies as a dependent under IRS guidelines. IRS guidelines say that if your parent is under age 65, they have an annual income of less than $3650 and you pay more than half of your parent's total support for the year you can claim them as a dependent. As you can see, these a some pretty hard criteria to meet but I'm sure there have to be some people out there that fit this profile.
Next, you will have to have a serious meeting with your employer and have family coverage available through your employer's health plan. You can't add your parent as an individual. If your current coverage level is employee only you would have to change it to a level where two or more adults can be covered (e.g. - family coverage). You must be prepared to provide documentation (tax filings, etc.) to your employer to support your request and, in all candor, I'd visit with a family lawyer before meeting with your employer. It is highly likely that your HR person or the business owner has never been presented with this situation before and it's such a rare situation that in some ways it defies common sense and is at odds with what is commonly accepted business personnel practices. Until your question prompted me to do some research my initial reaction was "no way" and I've been in the business for 30 years. You shouldn't expect this to be easy to accomplish, you may have to be the educator and you may find yourself having to deal with your employer, their insurance broker/consultant and probably the health insurance carrier themselves and to be expecting resistance every step of the way.
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Your parents must be on their own health insurance plan (if you're under age 26, you can be added to their's, but not the other way around).
I hope the information is helpful - please feel free to contact me for help and if you have any other questions. Thanks very much.
First, you have to determine if your parent qualifies as a dependent under IRS guidelines. IRS guidelines say that if your parent is under age 65, they have an annual income of less than $3650 and you pay more than half of your parent's total support for the year you can claim them as a dependent. As you can see, these a some pretty hard criteria to meet but I'm sure there have to be some people out there that fit this profile.
Next, you will have to have a serious meeting with your employer and have family coverage available through your employer's health plan. You can't add your parent as an individual. If your current coverage level is employee only you would have to change it to a level where two or more adults can be covered (e.g. - family coverage). You must be prepared to provide documentation (tax filings, etc.) to your employer to support your request and, in all candor, I'd visit with a family lawyer before meeting with your employer. It is highly likely that your HR person or the business owner has never been presented with this situation before and it's such a rare situation that in some ways it defies common sense and is at odds with what is commonly accepted business personnel practices. Until your question prompted me to do some research my initial reaction was "no way" and I've been in the business for 30 years. You shouldn't expect this to be easy to accomplish, you may have to be the educator and you may find yourself having to deal with your employer, their insurance broker/consultant and probably the health insurance carrier themselves and to be expecting resistance every step of the way.