Can I buy Marketplace health insurance for someone else?

Can I buy Marketplace insurance for someone else?

Yes, you can generally buy Marketplace health insurance for certain other persons. The details vary, however, depending on whether you’ll also be covered by the policy.

It’s possible to buy a policy and add another person to your coverage if that person is your spouse, your dependent, or your domestic partner, depending on where you live.¹

If you want to buy a policy for another person and you won’t be included on the plan, the specifics will depend on the circumstances.

For example, if the person who needs coverage is your child and your tax dependent, you can apply on their behalf. To apply for financial assistance to pay for that coverage, you’ll also need to provide the names of everyone else in the tax household (meaning people who will be on the same tax return as the Marketplace enrollee), as Marketplace financial assistance is based on comparing the size of the household with the household’s total income.

You will complete some items on the application for the person or persons applying for coverage, as well as other items for all members of the tax household.¹

Can I purchase Marketplace coverage for someone who isn’t part of my household?

If you want to purchase coverage for someone who isn’t part of your tax household – a grown child, for example – you’ll need to work together with that person to get coverage for them, unless you have power of attorney that authorizes you to act on their behalf.

Assuming you don’t have power of attorney, the person being enrolled in coverage will need to be involved in the enrollment process. They will need to provide personal information – including their Social Security Number, birth date, address, and household income –and they might be required to provide various additional information as needed by the Marketplace.²

Your information won’t be included on the application, since you don’t share a tax household with the enrollee.¹

Can I make the premium payment for another person’s health insurance?

In most states, enrollees pay monthly premiums directly to the insurance company, and the payments are not processed by the Marketplace.³ However, the exchanges in New Mexico⁴ and Rhode Island⁵ are exceptions, as both of them process premium payments for enrollees.

Marketplace insurers are required to accept paper checks, cashier’s checks, money orders, electronic fund transfers (EFTs, which are automatic payments from your bank account), and prepaid debit cards.⁶ They do not have to accept credit cards and regular debit cards (linked to checking accounts rather than pre-paid), although many insurers choose to do so.⁷

The insurers are also required to accept payments from certain third parties, including payments from an ICHRA or QSEHRA, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or urban Indian organization, or a local, state, or Federal government program.⁸

But in this author’s experience, insurers will generally accept other third-party payment information that doesn’t match the name of the policyholder, meaning they would allow you to provide your bank account, credit card, or billing address to pay for the other person’s coverage.

However, you will need to confirm this directly with the insurer, as payment rules and protocols are carrier-specific. (If the policy is obtained via the Marketplace in New Mexico or Rhode Island, you would need to confirm payment options with the Marketplace rather than the insurer, since premium payments are made to the Marketplaces in those states.)

Depending on your preferences and the options offered by the insurer, you may choose to have the payment automatically drawn from your account (or charged to your credit card if the insurer offers this option), or you might choose to receive an invoice each month and manually pay the bill, either by phone or by sending in a payment.