*****Disclaimer: This is not legal advice and is for educational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client privilege.
Rodriguez Law Group, Inc. May 4, 2022
If you or someone you know has gone or is going through divorce, you are likely familiar with the term “medical support order”. A medical support order is a type of child support order that orders a party in the divorce to assist with the medical support orders. This blog will outline the different types of medical support orders and the circumstances this kind of order is used in.
Medical support is support in the form of health insurance and/or cash medical support for the minor(s) of the divorcing parties. Every child support order must contain a provision for one or both parents to provide medical support for the child(ren).
To help enforce this in the case of orders for health insurance, child support agencies send a National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) to the employer to order health insurance coverage for an employee’s child(ren). Child support agencies send the NMSN to employers whenever appropriate. These time would include when a new child support order is issued requiring a parent to provide medical coverage, when an existing order is changed, when the parent(s) ordered to provide health care coverage has a change in employment or coverage, or if it is not clear that the parent is complying with an existing order to provide coverage.
The NMSN is the official form that child support agencies send to employers to ensure that children receive health care coverage when it is available and required as part of a child support order. The NMSN is divided into two parts, Part A and Part B. Part A is a Notice to Withhold for Health Care Coverage and it includes the Employer Response and instructions. Part B is a Medical Support Notice to the Plan Administrator and includes the Plan Administrator Response and instructions.
Cash medical support is ordered on the Income Withholding Order for Support (IWO) order/notice. Medical support can also include an order to pay a cash amount for medical expenses that are not covered by insurance. If cash medical support is ordered, it is due in addition to basic child support. Generally speaking, the court will order the expenses not covered by insurance to be shared by the parents based on a- 50-50 split.
If you yourself have one of these medical support orders and you have questions about that order, you should call your local branch of the department of child support services.
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