Will my mother-in-law still be eligible for Medi-Cal if I claim her as a dependent on tax return?
My wife and I file as Married-Filing Jointly (AGI $200+). Besides our children (both minors), my mother-in-law also lives with us now, but 7 months of the year. The remaining 6 months, she lives outside the country. For various reasons, even though she is >65 years old, she won't qualify for Medicare for a couple of years. However, she is not exempt from the minimum health care coverage mandate of the ACA. She has zero income and assets. We provide her with housing and pay for her basic expenses. In 2015, she was covered by Medi-Cal, so she met the health care coverage minimums. I think we can claim her as a dependent on our 2015 tax return, but should we? Would this disqualify her from Medi-Cal in 2016? I also need to separately figure out what our Individual Share Responsibility penalty would be, if we claim her as a dependent. (IRS Form 8965) It is difficult to get an answer to this one. Thanks in advance.
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