pg_0001

SPAC/SB 296

Page 1

AN ACT

RELATING TO CHILD SUPPORT; REQUIRING CERTAIN PARENTS TO

PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 27-1-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1997,

Chapter 237, Section 34) is amended to read:

"27-1-14. ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS FOR HEALTH CARE.--

A. All Title IV-D agency cases shall include a

provision for the health care coverage of each child. In the

case in which a medical support obligor parent provides such

coverage and changes employment and the new employer provides

such coverage, the state Title IV-D agency shall transfer

notice of the provision to the employer, which notice shall

operate to enroll each child in the medical support obligor's

health plan unless the medical support obligor successfully

contests the notice.

B. For purposes of this section, "medical support

obligor" means a person owing a duty to provide health

support, or against whom a proceeding for the enforcement of

such a duty of support is commenced or for registration of a

support order that includes provisions for such support for

each minor child."

Section 2. Section 40-4C-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,

Chapter 78, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

pg_0002

SPAC/SB 296

Page 2

"40-4C-2. PURPOSE.--To ensure that children have access

to quality medical care, it is the purpose of the Mandatory

Medical Support Act to require parents to provide or purchase

health insurance coverage for their minor children when such

coverage is available."

Section 3. Section 40-4C-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,

Chapter 78, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

"40-4C-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Mandatory

Medical Support Act:

A. "court" means any district court ordering

support by a medical support obligor;

B. "department" means the human services

department;

C. "employer" means an individual, organization,

agency, business or corporation hiring a medical support

obligor for pay;

D. "health insurance coverage" means those

coverages generally associated with a medical plan of

benefits, which may include dental insurance, but not

including medicaid coverage authorized by Title 19 of the

Social Security Act and administered by the department;

E. "insurer" means an employment-related or other

group health care insurance plan, a health maintenance

organization, a nonprofit health care plan or other type of

health care insurance plan under which medical or dental

pg_0003

SPAC/SB 296

Page 3

services are provided, regardless of service delivery

mechanism;

F. "medical support obligee" means a person to

whom a duty of medical support is owed or a person, including

the department, who has commenced a proceeding for

enforcement of a duty to provide health support for each

minor child or for registration of a support order that

includes a provision for such support for each minor child;

G. "medical support obligor" means a person owing

a duty to provide health support or against whom a proceeding

for the enforcement of such a duty of support is commenced or

for registration of a support order that includes provisions

for such support for each minor child;

H. "minor child" means a child younger than

eighteen years of age who has not been emancipated; and

I. "national medical support notice" means a

notice to an employer that an employee's child must be

covered by the employment-related group health and dental

care insurance plan pursuant to a court order."

Section 4. Section 40-4C-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,

Chapter 78, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:

"40-4C-4. MEDICAL SUPPORT--ORDER.--

A. The court shall determine a parent or both

parents to be a medical support obligor based on the

following:

pg_0004

SPAC/SB 296

Page 4

(1) the availability of health insurance

coverage that meets or exceeds the minimum standards required

under the Mandatory Medical Support Act; and

(2) the availability of health insurance

coverage through an employment-related or other group health

and dental care insurance plan.

B. When a medical support obligor is ordered to

provide health insurance coverage, the medical support

obligor shall properly name each minor child on behalf of

whom support is owed as an eligible dependent on such

insurance.

C. The court may consider the impact of the cost

of health insurance coverage on the payment of the base child

support amounts in determining whether such insurance

coverage shall be ordered.

D. The court may order the medical support obligor

to obtain health insurance coverage for each minor child to

whom support is owed if the court finds that health insurance

coverage for each minor child is not available to the medical

support obligor through an employment-related or other group

health care insurance plan.

E. The court shall require the medical support

obligor to be liable for all or a portion of the medical and

dental expenses of each minor child that are not covered by

the required health insurance coverage if:

pg_0005

SPAC/SB 296

Page 5

(1) the court finds that the health

insurance coverage required to be obtained by a medical

support obligor does not pay all the reasonable and necessary

medical or dental expenses of each minor child; and

(2) the court finds that a medical support

obligor has the financial resources to contribute to the

payment of these medical or dental expenses.

F. The court shall require the medical support

obligor to provide health insurance coverage or dental

insurance coverage for the benefit of the medical support

obligee if it is available at no additional cost to the

medical support obligor.

G. The court in any proceeding for the

establishment, enforcement or modification of a child support

obligation may modify an existing order of support or

establish child support, as applicable, for each minor child

to incorporate the provisions for medical and dental support

ordered pursuant to the Mandatory Medical Support Act."

Section 5. Section 40-4C-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,

Chapter 78, Section 5) is amended to read:

"40-4C-5. ORDER--PROOF OF COMPLIANCE--NOTICE.--

A. The medical support obligor shall provide to

the medical support obligee within thirty days of receipt of

effective notice of a court order for health insurance

coverage pursuant to the Mandatory Medical Support Act

pg_0006

SPAC/SB 296

Page 6

written proof of the medical support obligor's compliance

with that order. Compliance means either that the health

insurance coverage has been obtained or that a correct and

complete application for such coverage has been made.

B. The medical support obligee shall forward a

copy of the court order for health insurance coverage issued

pursuant to the Mandatory Medical Support Act to the medical

support obligor's employer or union only when ordered to do

so by the court or when:

(1) the medical support obligor fails to

provide written proof of compliance with the court order to

the medical support obligee within thirty days of the medical

support obligor's receipt of effective written notice of the

court order;

(2) the medical support obligee serves by

mail at the medical support obligor's last known post office

address written notice on the medical support obligor of the

medical support obligee's intent to enforce the order; and

(3) the medical support obligor fails to

provide within fifteen days after the date the medical

support obligee mailed the notice in Paragraph (2) of this

subsection written proof to the medical support obligee that

the medical support obligor has obtained the health insurance

coverage ordered by the court or has applied for such

coverage.

pg_0007

SPAC/SB 296

Page 7

C. Upon receipt of a court order for health

insurance coverage pursuant to the Mandatory Medical Support

Act, the employer or union shall forward a copy of the order

to the health insurer or dental insurer, as applicable."

Section 6. Section 40-4C-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,

Chapter 78, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:

"40-4C-6. OBLIGATIONS--EMPLOYERS, UNIONS AND INSURERS--

PLAN.--

A. Upon receipt of a national medical support

notice or the court order for health insurance coverage

pursuant to Section 40-4C-5 NMSA 1978 or upon application of

the medical support obligor pursuant to the court order, the

employer or union shall enroll the minor child as an eligible

dependent in the health insurance plan and withhold any

required premium from the medical support obligor's income or

wages. If more than one health and dental insurance plan is

offered by the employer, union or insurer, the minor child

shall be enrolled in the plan in which the medical support

obligor is enrolled. If the medical support obligor is not

enrolled in a plan, the child shall be enrolled in a plan

that meets the minimum coverage criteria required pursuant to

the Mandatory Medical Support Act. If the medical support

obligor is not enrolled in a plan, the premiums charged for

the child or children of the medical support obligor shall be

those charged for the enrollment of the medical support

pg_0008

SPAC/SB 296

Page 8

obligor only.

B. In any instance in which the medical support

obligor is required by a court order to provide health

insurance coverage for each minor child and the medical

support obligor is eligible for health insurance coverage

through an employment-related or other group health care

insurance plan, the employer, union or insurer shall do the

following:

(1) permit the medical support obligor to

enroll for health insurance coverage each minor child who is

otherwise eligible for coverage without regard to any

enrollment season restrictions;

(2) enroll each minor child for health

insurance coverage if the medical support obligor fails to

enroll each minor child upon application by the medical

support obligee or the department;

(3) not disenroll or eliminate coverage of

any minor child so enrolled unless:

(a) the employer is provided with

satisfactory written evidence that the court order is no

longer in effect;

(b) the minor child is or will be

enrolled in comparable health coverage that meets the

coverage criteria required pursuant to the Mandatory Medical

Support Act and that will take effect not later than the

pg_0009

SPAC/SB 296

Page 9

effective date of the disenrollment;

terminated employment; or

(d) the employer has eliminated health

insurance coverage for all of its employees; and

(4) withhold from the medical support

obligor's compensation the medical support obligor's share,

if any, of premiums for health insurance coverage and to pay

the share of premiums to the insurer, unless otherwise

provided in law or regulation.

C. In those instances in which the medical support

obligor fails or refuses to execute any document necessary to

enroll a minor child in a health insurance plan ordered by

the court, the required information and authorization may be

provided by the department or the custodial parent or

guardian of the minor child.

D. Information and authorization provided by the

department or the custodial parent or guardian of a minor

child shall be valid for the purpose of meeting enrollment

requirements of the health insurance plan and shall not

affect the obligation of the employer or union and the

insurer to enroll the minor child in the health insurance

plan for which other eligibility, enrollment, underwriting

terms and other requirements are met. In instances in which

a minor child is insured through the medical support obligor,

pg_0010

SPAC/SB 296

Page 10

the insurer shall provide all information to the medical

support obligee that may be helpful or necessary for the

minor child to obtain benefits.

E. A minor child that a medical support obligor is

required to cover as an eligible dependent pursuant to the

Mandatory Medical Support Act shall be considered for

insurance coverage purposes as a dependent of the medical

support obligor until the child is emancipated or until

further order of the court.

F. In instances in which a minor child is insured

through a medical support obligor, the insurer is prohibited

from denying health insurance coverage of the minor child on

the grounds that the minor child was born out of wedlock,

that the minor child is not claimed as a dependent on the

medical support obligor's federal income tax return or that

the minor child does not reside with the medical support

obligor or reside in the insurer's service area.

G. In instances in which a minor child is insured

through a medical support obligor, the insurer is prohibited

from imposing requirements on the department that are

different from requirements applicable to an agent or

assignee of any other individual covered by the insurer.

H. In instances in which a minor child is insured

through a medical support obligor who is a noncustodial

parent, the insurer shall permit the custodial parent or

pg_0011

SPAC/SB 296

Page 11

health care provider, with the approval of the custodial

parent, to submit claims for covered services without the

approval of the medical support obligor. The insurer shall

make payments on submitted claims directly to the custodial

parent or the health care provider.

I. If the medical support obligor is terminated,

the employer shall notify the department of the termination."

Section 7. Section 40-4C-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,

Chapter 78, Section 10, as amended) is amended to read:

"40-4C-10. EMPLOYER, UNION OR INSURER NOTICE.--When an

order for health insurance coverage pursuant to the Mandatory

Medical Support Act is in effect, upon termination of the

medical support obligor's employment or upon termination of

the insurance coverage, the employer, union or insurer shall

make a good faith effort to notify the department and the

other parent within ten days of the termination date with

notice of conversion privileges."

Section 8. Section 40-4C-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,

Chapter 78, Section 11, as amended) is amended to read:

"40-4C-11. RELEASE OF INFORMATION.--When an order for

health insurance coverage pursuant to the Mandatory Medical

Support Act is in effect, the medical support obligor's

employer, union or insurer shall release to the other parent,

upon request, information on such coverage, including the

name of the insurer."

pg_0012

SPAC/SB 296

Page 12

Section 9. Section 40-4C-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,

Chapter 78, Section 12, as amended) is amended to read:

"40-4C-12. MEDICAL SUPPORT OBLIGOR LIABILITY.--

A. A medical support obligor who fails to maintain

the health insurance coverage for the benefit of a minor

child as ordered pursuant to the Mandatory Medical Support

Act shall be liable to the department or the other parent for

any medical and dental expenses incurred from the date of the

court order.

B. A medical support obligor who receives payment

from a third party for the costs of medical or dental

services provided to a minor child and who fails to use the

payment to reimburse the department is liable to the

department to the extent of the department's payment for the

services. The department is authorized to intercept the

obligor's tax refund, if the medical support obligor is a

noncustodial parent, or use other means of enforcement

available to the department to recoup amounts paid. Claims

for current or past due child support take priority over any

claims made pursuant to this subsection. Failure to maintain

health insurance coverage as ordered constitutes a showing of

increased need and provides a basis for modification of the

medical support obligor's child support order.

C. A medical support obligor is required to

provide the department with the following information

pg_0013

SPAC/SB 296

Page 13

concerning health insurance coverage:

(1) medical support obligor's name and tax

identification number;

(2) type of coverage (single or family);

(3) name, address and identifying number of

health insurance coverage;

(4) name and tax identification number of

other individuals who are provided health insurance coverage

by the medical support obligor;

(5) effective period of coverage; and

(6) name, address and the tax identification

number of the employer."

Section 10. Section 40-4C-13 NMSA 1978 (being Laws

1990, Chapter 78, Section 13, as amended) is amended to read:

"40-4C-13. DEPARTMENT--DUTIES.--The department shall

pursue the establishment and enforcement of an order for

health insurance coverage when a minor child receives public

assistance or medicaid or upon application of a custodial or

noncustodial parent to the department and payment by the

custodial or noncustodial parent of fees required by the

department."

Section 11. Section 40-4C-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws

1990, Chapter 78, Section 14) is amended to read:

"40-4C-14. ENFORCEMENT.--All remedies available for the

collection and enforcement of child support apply to medical

pg_0014

SPAC/SB 296

Page 14

support ordered pursuant to the Mandatory Medical Support Act.

For the purpose of enforcement, the costs of individual or

group health or hospitalization coverage or liabilities

established pursuant to Section 40-4C-12 NMSA 1978 shall be

included in a medical support judgment."