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Effective: September 1, 2009 |
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16ar2 - Medical Support (Archive) |
Archived: June 1, 2011 |
Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) require biological and adoptive parents to help provide health care for their children. When both parents live with the child, this requirement is generally met by deeming the parents' income to the child (for Medical Assistance) or by considering the household income for parents and their children together (for MinnesotaCare).
However, if one or both parents do not live with the child, or parental income is not deemed because of other policy provisions (such as waiver program eligibility), a referral for medical support or the determination of a parental fee may be required.
Medical support may include cash payments or health insurance coverage that a non-custodial parent provides or is court-ordered to provide to meet the medical needs of the non-custodial parent's children. Court orders generally require medical support payments until the child is 18 but may require payments beyond age 18 in some cases.
As part of the medical support process, some people may need to establish the identity of a child's legal father, also known as establishing paternity. Paternity must be established before a medical support order can be established or enforced.
Note: Sometimes someone other than the non-custodial parent is court-ordered to provide medical support. The person who must provide the medical support is known as the obligor.
MHCP requires custodial parents and others who have the legal authority to assign the rights of children who are requesting or receiving MinnesotaCare or Medical Assistance (MA) to assign their own and their children's rights to medical support or medical support payments from the children's non-custodial parent or anyone else court-ordered to provide medical support payments to the child. This means that the State of Minnesota is entitled to any medical support or medical support payments owed to people who are applying or eligible for health care program coverage.
People with the legal authority to assign one's own rights or the rights of their minor child to medical support by accepting or receiving assistance. People who refuse to assign their rights to medical support are ineligible for any Minnesota Health Care Program coverage whether it is federally or state-funded.
People who are not legally able to assign their rights to medical support, such as children and people under legal guardianship, are eligible even if the people who are legally responsible for them refuse to assign benefits.
Example:
Georgia applies for MA for herself and two children. She refuses to assign her and her children's rights to medical support by writing "refused" on the assignment portion of the application. She does not claim good cause.
Action:
Approve MA for the children if they meet all other eligibility requirements. Georgia is ineligible for MA, GAMC, and MinnesotaCare (both federally and state-funded).
Example:
Lisa is 16 and lives with her six-month-old son and her mother Charlotte. There is a court order for Lisa’s father to provide medical support for her. Lisa is legally unable to assign rights for her own medical support because she is a minor.
Action:
Require Charlotte to assign her own and Lisa's rights to medical support as a condition of her own eligibility if she requests health care coverage for herself. If Charlotte refuses, Lisa and the child are still eligible if they meet all other requirements.
Note: Lisa must provide information about her son's father and cooperate to the extent possible with attempts to establish paternity and medical support for him. See Minor Caretakers.
MHCP enrollees do not assign their rights to child support payments and are not required to cooperate with child support payment requirements. Do not deny or close health care for an enrollee who does not cooperate with child support payment requirements, but is cooperating with medical support requirements.
Enrollees may voluntarily request full child and medical support enforcement services from the local county child support enforcement office, or IV-D agency.
Note: Enrollees must report any child support payments, whether court-ordered or voluntary. See Child Support Income.
For further information about medical support requirements and processes, see:
When to Refer for Medical Support.