If my employer does not provide benefits and my income qualifies me for medical assistance such as CHIPS, and my child support payments are current, can I still be forced to obtain outside health coverage?

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Originally Posted by chrisljsr

If my employer does not provide benefits and my income qualifies me for medical assistance such as CHIPS, and my child support payments are current, can I still be forced to obtain outside health coverage?

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Why would you have to be " forced " to do something positive for your children. If you qualify for the program and if it has an out of pocket expense you might be able to get an adjustment on your child support to help cover the costs but either way having insurance for your children is important and goes directly for their benefit. Step up on this one and do it before your TOLD to. Then if needed get adjustments later.

One question would be is thecustodial parent able to put the children on their insurance? Paying the amount of t he premium in the court order might be cheaper, Even if it is a high cost premium it might be better than paying outisde coverage.

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Originally Posted by califdadof3

Why would you have to be " forced " to do something positive for your children. If you qualify for the program and if it has an out of pocket expense you might be able to get an adjustment on your child support to help cover the costs but either way having insurance for your children is important and goes directly for thier benefit. Step up on this one and do it before your TOLD to. Then if needed get adjustments later.

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chrisljsr disagrees: This person totally misjedged the question

No I didn't misread it in any way. My question was why would you want to wait until your forced to get it. In most support orders it states if available. You had stated that it is available through qualification. Do you really need to be told what to do when it comes to your kids ? It answers your question directly with the line ( Step up on this one and do it before your TOLD to. ) <-- that means YES!!

The question is not clear, who has custody, what does the court order say about insurance on the children *** I assume you are talking about their insurance, that is not even clear.

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Originally Posted by chrisljsr

If my employer does not provide benefits and my income qualifies me for medical assistance such as CHIPS, and my child support payments are current, can I still be forced to obtain outside health coverage?

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Of course the absolutely correct answer depends upon that state you are in. In California the rule is that if you have no employer sponsored health insurance through work you will not be required to acquire it; however, the child support order must contain a provision that says if coverage becomes available to you through work at no or a reasonable cost (and it is rebuttably presumed to be reasonable if offered under an employer group plan) then you must apply for it when it first becomes available and then obtain it. If you had medical insurance already in place when the support order went into effect then you would have had to been ordered to maintain it if it were available at no or a reasonable cost.

So the short answer to your question is a simple, no. But in my opinion our statute is a little ambiguous since it only implies, but does not specifically state, that the court cannot make an order that you acquire outside health insurance.