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Q. My son has lost his job and my grandchildren, ages 5 and 6, are without health insurance. I am a retired schoolteacher and might be able to afford coverage for them. What are my options?
A. Your grandchildren have a couple of coverage possibilities. Assuming your son’s income is low or non-existent now because he’s out of work, the kids would likely be eligible for coverage under their state Medicaid or CHIP program for low-income children. , but it’s typically between (currently $39,580 to $49,475 for a 3-person family).
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If the kids don’t qualify for Medicaid or CHIP, all three of them may qualify for subsidized family coverage on the state marketplace, says Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation). Under the health law, your son’s loss of on-the-job health insurance creates a “” for him to sign up for coverage there. If his estimated income for this year will be less than (currently $78,120 for a family of three) he may qualify for subsidies.
If it’s just the kids’ coverage you’re concerned about, you can investigate child-only policies on the state marketplace. Log onto to get connected to your state marketplace and find details about child-only plans as well as family coverage and Medicaid/CHIP.
Finally, if you have private retiree coverage, it’s possible–but unlikely–that you could insure your grandchildren as dependents on your own plan, says Pollitz.
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ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .This <a target="_blank" href="/insurance/michelle-andrews-grandchildren-health-insurance/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a <a target="_blank" href=" Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src="/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">
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