Final National Medical Support Notice To Cover More American Children

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Today the U.S. Department of Labor is issuing final rules that would implement provisions of the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 that are intended to help children gain access to coverage under their noncustodial parents' employer-based group health plans. This regulation is effective 30 days from today's publication in The Federal Register, which is Jan. 26, 2001.

The final rule provides a simple and uniform National Medical Support Notice to be used by the states in carrying out their responsibilities in child support enforcement and that administrators of group health plans will be able to determine readily are qualified medical child support orders under section 609(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Simultaneously, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also is issuing final rules under the Social Security Act implementing the use of the National Medical Support Notice by state agencies that administer child support enforcement programs.

These final rules would affect group health plans, participants and their children and state child support enforcement agencies. Medical child support orders require noncustodial parents to include their children under employer-based health insurance coverage. The orders are established and enforced by the state child support enforcement agencies.

In developing the National Medical Support Notice proposal, the departments were assisted by a working group established to identify impediments to medical child support enforcement. The group, which included representatives of employers and plan sponsors and administrators, submitted a report to the secretaries of labor and health and human services earlier in 2000.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.