Grandchildren's Health Care Coverage
Q. Is there any law requiring an employers' group
health plan to extend coverage to an employee's covered
child's child (the employee's grandchild)?
A. Under the Affordable Care Act, there are no laws
requiring employer sponsored coverage to extend dependent child
coverage to the children of a dependent child. A child of an
employee is generally defined narrowly as a son, daughter, stepson
or stepdaughter of the employee. The term, however, also includes
adopted children and an "eligible foster child." An
eligible foster child is defined broadly as a child placed with the
employee by an authorized placement agency or by court order. Under
certain circumstances, it is entirely possible that an
employee's covered child's child may have been legally
adopted by the employee or placed with the employee by an
authorized foster agency and would then be eligible for the
dependent coverage.
