Insurance & verification · 2 min read · Beginner
Patients on someone else's plan
A child on a parent's plan, or a spouse on a partner's: set Relationship, then fill in the policy holder's details from their card. The carrier finds the holder first, then the patient.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
Many patients are covered by someone else's plan: a child on a parent's plan, or a spouse on a partner's. The person who holds the plan is the policy holder. The carrier looks up the policy holder first, then finds the patient on their plan. So the check needs the holder's details, not just the patient's.
Check a patient on someone else's plan
- Add the patient as usual with New verification: their own legal name and date of birth. For a child, you can use the parent's phone number and email.
- If that phone number is already on file for the parent, we ask before adding anyone. Click A family member on this number.
- Add insurance opens. Everything comes from the policy holder's card: pick the Carrier, type the Member ID, choose the Plan type, and type the Group number.
- Set Relationship. It starts as Patient is the policy holder. Change it to Child of the policy holder, Spouse of the policy holder or Other dependent. The patient's own name and birth date clear out of the policy holder boxes.
- Type the policy holder's name and pick their date of birth.
- Type the policy holder's Social Security number and their home address.
- Click Save and verify.
Note
If the policy holder's date of birth matches the patient's, a warning asks you to check it. For a child, enter the parent's date of birth, not the child's. With the patient's birth date in the holder's box, the carrier looks for the wrong person.
How you can tell whose plan it is
- On the result, Plan basics shows Policy holder with the holder's name and the relationship, for example "Kaila Chong · Child".
- On your patient list, the row says whose plan it is, for example "Child of Kaila Chong", so anyone at your office can see it.
A patient already on your list
Open their row and click Edit on Plan basics. Change Relationship, fill in the policy holder's details, and click Save. Then click Re-verify to run the check with the new details.
In a bulk list
Use the relationship column (self, spouse or child) and the policy holder's first name, last name and date of birth. A blank relationship is checked as the policy holder, so a child left blank usually comes back not found. See Red boxes in a bulk list.
Frequently asked questions
The spouse has their own card from their own job. Then they are the policy holder of that plan. Leave Relationship as Patient is the policy holder and use their own card.
The carrier found the holder but says the patient is not on the plan. See A verification failed, what do I do?.
Still need a hand?
Reach the Valian team any time at help@valiansystems.com, or open a ticket from the Help Center inside your dashboard. During onboarding, your onboarding contact is at onboarding@valiansystems.com.