Must you enroll an eligible dependent?

I am inquiring here for my brother. Long story short, he has no contact with his biological child or her mother, but does pay $1000 plus in child support each month. He has never carried insurance on himself in his adult life because after child support he has not been able to afford both the premium and his living expenses for most of this time. Our father is experiencing certain health problems and my brother is now considering getting the cheapest insurance possible through his employer basically for coverage in case of something catastrophic happening health-wise.

So the question arises : Since his biological child is a qualifying dependent by the definitions we are finding online, is he required to add the child to his insurance just because he can? He has no idea what the current insurance situation is for the child, but it is a safe assumption that she is currently covered through her mother and has been for years because no issue or subject of insurance coverage has ever come up.

He lives in Virginia.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide

submitted by /u/notime2xplain
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