Parents who are approaching child support negotiations may wonder what is covered by child support and if medical care is included in child support. In general, parents are required to pay for uninsured medical care expenses and medical expenses not reimbursed by insurance. Additionally, child support orders include an order for medical support which may require one or more parents to provide health insurance for the child.
How extraordinary medical care expenses are handled
Extraordinary medical care expenses include those costs that exceed the cost of basic healthcare that is covered under the parent’s health insurance plan. Healthcare expenses that may not be included in the parent’s insurance coverage for the child can include insurance co-pays, deductibles or prescriptions. Additionally, they can include medical, dental and vision costs that may not be considered medically necessary.
A child support order may state how uninsured or unreimbursed, extraordinary, medical care expenses are to be paid including what percentage of the expenses are to be paid by each parent. How extraordinary medical care expenses may be paid can vary and may be proportionate to each parent’s income or may be allocated to the non-custodial parent or paid by the non-custodial parent over a certain threshold paid by the custodial parent.
If there is not a specific provision in the child support order concerning how extraordinary medical care expenses should be paid for, there may need to be a modification of the child support order to include them. A child support modification may be obtained through the family law court in certain circumstances. There are many different aspects of child support to consider which is why parents should be familiar with the process and how considerations like medical expenses are handled.