Advice for Senior Mom & her husband

Hi All,

Apologies if this is the wrong subreddit/thread.

Looking for some advice/guidance on the following:

My mom (59F) and her husband (61M) live in the same home as me (37M), my wife (32F) and daughter (3F). Specifically, we bought a home in August of 2020 that has a finished walkout basement with a full studio apartment. (Washer/Dryer/Kitchen/Full Bath etc…

They sold their house in December of 2021 and moved in with us. It’s been great, as we’re finding a lot of value in the connection and it’s been a complete blessing to see my daughter get to interact with my mom on an almost daily basis.

Anyways…

My mom currently works at a box store and is trying to drop down to part time, where she will need to purchase/procure health insurance through our state (VT) health marketplace. She keeps getting caught up on the “who’s in your household” and “how much do you pay in rent” questions.

They pay nothing in rent. I don’t charge them rent. We are financially stable enough that they just live with us and we’re happy to have them. That said, I also do not claim them on my taxes, as they make their own money and pay their own bills, completely separate from us. The only things that I technically cover for them are housing costs, electricity, cable/internet, and gas as those are all utilities attached to the home and we share an electrical panel, etc….

My mom is a super “over sharer” and I worry that she will talk herself into a circle with the insurance folks when trying to explain her living situation.

Does she have anything to worry about when trying to get healthcare? My thoughts are:

“I make x amount of dollars, I have x amount of expenses, and nobody can claim me as a dependent, so what are my insurance options?”

Apologies if I’m missing any pertinent info here. Thanks in advance.

Additional info/questions:

Her husband is on permanent disability and is currently on medicare I believe. He would like to explore medicaid as I believe he falls into the income bracket for that coverage. However, he is also worried about answering any household/living situation questions.