CHAPTER 166
SB 444 – FINAL VERSION
03/17/10 0963s
2010 SESSION
05/01
SENATE BILL 444
AN ACT relative to the medical child support obligation.
SPONSORS: Sen. Reynolds, Dist 2
This bill revises the formula for establishing a reasonable medical support obligation as part of child support.
This bill is a request of the department of health and human services.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/17/10 0963s
10-2885
05/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to the medical child support obligation.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
166:1 New Paragraphs; National Medical Support Notice. Amend RSA 161-H:2 by inserting after paragraph III-a the following new paragraphs:
III-b. Where the parent is a newly hired employee entered in the state directory of new hires maintained by the department of employment security pursuant to RSA 282-A:117-a, I, the department shall, where appropriate, provide to the employer a National Medical Support Notice and an income withholding notice pursuant to paragraph III-a in accordance with the timeframes required by section 466(a)(19)(B) of the Social Security Act.
III-c. The employer shall transfer a National Medical Support Notice within 20 business days after the date of the National Medical Support Notice to any insurer providing health care coverage for which the child is eligible.
166:2 National Medical Support Notice. Amend RSA 161-H:2, VII to read as follows:
VII. Any employer who violates any provision of paragraph III, III-c, or V shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
166:3 Child Support Guidelines. Amend RSA 458-C:3, II(b) and (c) to read as follows:
(b) The total child support obligation shall be divided between the parents in proportion to their respective incomes as adjusted by this section, except when there are incurred by the obligee child care expenses or for the actual amount paid [for medical insurance coverage] as the medical support obligation, for the minor children to whom the child support order applies.
(c) For those cases involving allowable child care expenses or medical [insurance] support obligation expenses incurred by the obligee, the same methodology described in subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall be used, except that as part of the determination of each parent’s share of the child support obligation, the obligee’s allowable child care expenses or medical [insurance] support obligation expenses shall be deducted from the adjusted gross income of the obligee.
166:4 Child Support Guidelines; Definition of Medical Support Reasonable Cost Obligation. RSA 458-C:2, VI-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
VI-a. “Reasonable medical support obligation” means the amount established under RSA 458-C:3, V.
166:5 New Paragraph; Child Support Guidelines; Child Support Formula. RSA 458-C:3, V is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
V. The court shall establish and order a reasonable medical support obligation for each parent. The presumptive amount of a reasonable medical support obligation shall be 4 percent of the individual parent’s gross income, unless the court establishes and orders a different amount based on a written finding or a specific finding, made by the presiding officer on the record, that the presumptive amount would be unjust or inappropriate, using the criteria set forth in RSA 458-C:5.
166:6 Parental Rights and Responsibilities; Support. RSA 461-A:14, IX is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
IX.(a) Each child support order shall include the court’s determination and findings relative to health insurance and the payment of uninsured medical expenses for the child.
(b) The court shall determine whether private health insurance is accessible and is available to either parent at a cost that is at or below the reasonable medical support obligation amount, as established and ordered pursuant to RSA 458-C:3, V, or is available by combining the reasonable medical support obligations of both parents, and, if so available, the court shall order the parent, or parents, to provide such insurance for the child. The cost of providing private health insurance is the cost of adding the child to existing coverage, or the difference between individual and family coverage. Accessible health insurance means the primary care services are located within 50 miles or one hour from the child’s primary residence.
(c) If the court determines that private health insurance is not accessible or available at a cost that is at or below the reasonable medical support obligation amount, the court shall establish a cash medical support obligation for either or both parents, equal to the reasonable medical support obligation amount, and order that either or both parents shall obtain such private health insurance if it subsequently becomes accessible and available at a cost that is at or below the reasonable medical support obligation amount. When ordered in lieu of private health insurance, an obligation for cash medical support shall be suspended and shall not accrue during such time as the obligated parent is providing private health insurance in accordance with this paragraph.
(d) In all cases where support is payable through the department, or where the department is providing medical assistance for the child under RSA 167, the court shall include the medical support obligation in any order issued on or after the effective date of this paragraph.
(e) A court may order either or both parents to pay a medical support obligation, either to provide health insurance coverage or as cash medical support, in excess of the reasonable medical support obligation amount, in such other circumstances, as the court deems appropriate.
166:7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved: June 17, 2010
Effective Date: June 17, 2010