1. 5527 POINTS
    Marlin McKelvy
    President, Consumer Directed Benefit Solutions, Memphis, Tennessee
    Wow, people keep asking this question.  Doesn't anybody get married anymore?

    No, you can't add your girlfriend to your health insurance, she's not a legal dependent.  Girlfriends and boyfriends have a tendency to come into and then drift out of our lives.  That's why they are referred to as friends.  Husbands and wives on the other hand have this certain "stickiness" and tend to hang around for a long time.  Maybe even until death do you part.

    The bottom line is if you think so highly of your girlfriend that you want to put her on your health insurance then it's time to make it legal.  Of course, now in the era of ObamaCare even marrying her may not be a guarantee you can add her to your employer's health insurance.  Interestingly enough, ObamaCare didn't bother to define spouses as dependents (I didn't make the law folks I just inform people about it) and so with health insurance rates skyrocketing you are seeing increasing numbers of employers requiring spouses who are employed at another company that offers health insurance to enroll in their employer's plan.  And a few have gone all in on that interpretation of the law and aren't covering spouses at all (still pretty rare).  But, in general, you have to be married to your girlfriend to cover her as a dependent on your health insurance.
    Answered on July 31, 2014
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