Can I Claim My Mother As a Dependent on My Health Insurance?

Health insurance is often offered as a benefit through employment. Health insurance companies offer business packages so employers can offer plans to their workers, automatically deducting premiums from their paychecks. Among the features these plans offer is the ability to add dependents to the policy. Dependents are defined based on IRS criteria, and they usually include spouses and children still supported by their parents. In some cases, however, children can also claim their parents as dependents.

Status

• The same qualifications for claiming dependents on tax returns is used to claim dependents on health insurance -- there is no difference between the two variables. This means that if you want to claim your mother as a dependent on health insurance, she must be directly related to you. In this case, a mother-child relationship easily falls within the criteria, although you would have a more difficult time covering a cousin or distant relation. You mother must also be a United States citizen, national or resident alien, or a citizen of Canada or Mexico in order to qualify.

Tax Returns

• Parents are also under restrictions concerning what tax returns they file. If you want to claim your mother as a dependent, she cannot file a joint tax return with anyone else, such as a spouse. This automatically negates the ability for her to be a dependent. The IRS assumes that a joint filing shows a combination of income and assets that allows for things like health insurance, and a dependent status is not needed.

Gross Taxable Income

• There are also limits to how much gross taxable income a parent can have as a dependent. If parents make too much money, they cannot be dependents. In 2010, the limit was $3,650 per year. Social Security income does not count in this amount, unless the parent receives more than $25,000 of total income. Within these limits, a parent can qualify as a dependent.

Provision

• The final requirement for claiming your mother as a dependent is how much of her support you provide. A parent can only be a dependent if she does not fully support herself. The cut-off point is 50 percent of her support costs. As the child, you must pay more than half of the expenses related to your parent's support, including food, lodging, medical expenses and other items.