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Do parents have to maintain private health insurance for their child, and if so, who pays for it?

5/27/2015

 
14.  Welcome back!  We talked about childcare expense in Lesson 13.  Let’s move on to health care.  Do parents have to maintain private health insurance for their child, and if so, who pays for it?

            As of April 15, 2015, the effective date of these Lessons, it is too early to ascertain every impact of the comprehensive and highly controversial Affordable Care Act, but for the time being, we know that every child in Kentucky should have health insurance, whether through a parent’s employment, Kynect, the Marketplace or CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program.)

            Before passage of the Affordable Care Act, KRS 403.211(7) already established the circumstances related to parents’ responsibility for obtaining private health insurance for their children.  If private coverage is “reasonable in cost and accessible” to either parent, the court shall require it to be provided, and it shall allocate the cost between the parents in addition to child support.  "Reasonable in cost” is defined to be coverage which does not cost more than 5 % of that parent’s gross income.  “Accessible” is defined to mean that there are providers who meet the child’s health care needs who are located no more than 60 miles from the child’s primary residence.

            KRS 403.211 law requires that if the private health coverage provides for covered services for dependent children beyond the age of majority, then any unmarried children up to age 25 who are full-time students enrolled in and attending an accredited educational institution and who are primarily dependent on the insured parent for maintenance and support shall be covered.  The cost for coverage of children under who qualify under this provision is presumably to be allocated according to the parents’ respective incomes as long as the coverage is maintained.

            The Affordable Care Act requires an insurance provider to make coverage available for adult children until they turn 26 regardless of whether they are married, regardless of whether they are attending school, and regardless of whether they are financially dependent on their parents.

            What if a parent provides coverage for an adult child even though it is not required under KRS 403.211?  Is the other parent required to pay his or her share of the cost?  We won’t know until this is addressed by the appellate courts.

            Often both parents have available coverage and sometimes they disagree about which policy should be used.  Imagine that!  In that case, the custodian will decide which policy to use, but if they have joint custody, they will have to present their argument to the judge who must decide the issue.  Once it is resolved which parent will provide coverage, the cost is allocated according to their respective incomes and, much like the allocation of childcare expense on Exhibit 13, the worksheet will give the parties appropriate credit for the cost of health insurance for the child or children only.  

            In any event, now you know a whole lot more than you did before about private health insurance coverage for children in Kentucky.  Enjoy your day!     


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    Judge John Schrader is a Husband, a Father, and a Lexington Attorney providing legal and mediation services in the office of Sherrow, Sutherland & Associates, P.S.C.

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    CHILD SUPPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS
    1. Who is required to pay child support in Kentucky?
    Publish Date: April 29, 2015
    2. What do I do to obtain a Kentucky Child Support Order?

    Publish Date: April 29, 2015
    3. How is child support calculated under the guidelines?
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    4. What is considered “gross income” for child support calculations?
    Publish Date: May 5, 2015
    5. How do I find out what the other parent's income is?
    Publish Date: May 6, 2015
    6. What about income from self-employment or business income?
    Publish Date: May 7, 2015
    7. What if a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed?
    Publish Date: May 13, 2015
    8. What if one parent is paying maintenance?
    Publish Date: May 13, 2015
    9. Is there an adjustment to a parent's "gross income" if he or she is supporting a prior-born
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    Publish Date: May 13, 2015
    10. What happens in a split custody arrangement where Sissy lives with Mother and Jr. lives with Father?
    Publish Date: May 20, 2015
    11. When can a judge deviate from the child support “guidelines”?
    Publish Date: May 20, 2015
    12. When the parents' combined monthly adjusted gross income exceeds $15,000 per month, how is child support calculated?
    Publish Date: May 20, 2015
    13. How does Kentucky law deal with the big-ticket item of childcare expense?
    Publish Date: May 27, 2015
    14. Do parents have to maintain private health insurance for their child, and if so, who pays
    for it?

    Publish Date: May 27, 2015
    15. Who pays for deductibles and co-pays and how do we deal with extraordinary medical expenses not covered by the insurance?
    Publish Date: May 27, 2015
    16. How does a parent actually recover the proportionate share of extraordinary medical expenses from the other parent?
    Publish Date: June 3, 2015
    17. What if I find out the other parent has not been paying for childcare even though I have been paying for my share?
    Publish Date: June 3, 2015
    18. How do I get a modification of child support in Kentucky?
    Publish Date: June 3, 2015
    19. When does child support terminate?
    Publish Date: June 10, 2015
    20. Is a Wage Assignment Order required for child support in Kentucky?

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    21. What does the court do about child support when the child spends a considerable amount of time with both parents?
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    22. What is involved in collection of child support?
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    23. How does the law deal with enforcement of the child support order when my ex and I
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    24. If Kentucky does not have jurisdiction over the other parent of my child, what is the UIFSA process to deal with establishment, enforcement and modification of child support
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    Publish Date: June 17, 2015
    25. What about parents who were not husband and wife to each other when their child was
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    Publish Date: June 24, 2015
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