The Affordable Care Act allows a dependent child to be covered by their parent’s health insurance plan until the child reaches age 26. Once the child reaches age 26, the child will need to seek his/her own health care coverage. What happens if your child is a graduate student and has very little income?
One option may be to purchase health care coverage through the school’s health care plan. Perhaps the child could seek coverage under Cobra from the parent’s plan. Another option is for the child to procure health care coverage on the on the healthcare.gov marketplace. If the latter option is used, the child will likely not have sufficient income to meet the minimum earnings to qualify for a subsidy on the healthcare.gov marketplace. Consequently, under all 3 options, the student finds that the premium cost is very expensive and the child likely cannot afford to pay it. Another option is that the child requests the parent to pay the premium. This is not a premium savings, simply a transfer of where the source of the funds comes from.
What if the child could receive health care coverage for FREE (or for a substantially reduced cost)? Everybody likes “free”! How does the child receive FREE health care coverage? Visit Medicaid.gov to learn how to apply for Medicaid coverage. Yes, Medicaid may be the answer.
If you want to discuss financial planning or your business or personal tax planning and tax preparation concerns with an experienced tax professional, we invite you to call 610-594-2601 today to make an appointment at our Exton PA CPA office to discuss your situation. You can also schedule a consultation at Click Here.
