Assembly Bill No. 475–Committee on Ways and Means

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to obligations of support for children; revising the procedure for enrolling a child in a plan of health insurance pursuant to a court order for support to comply with federal law; requiring premiums for such health insurance to be deducted from the wages of the parent; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

    Section 1.  NRS 31A.350 is hereby amended to read as

follows:

    31A.350  1.  If a court orders a parent to obtain health

insurance for his child and the parent fails to [comply with the

order,] enroll the child and provide written proof to the enforcing

authority, the enforcing authority shall mail to the parent’s

employer or labor organization by first-class mail, a notice requiring

the employer or organization to enroll the child in the plan of health

insurance provided for his employees or its members. [The notice

must include:

    (a) The parent’s name and social security number;

    (b) A statement that the parent has been required by an order of

the court to obtain and maintain health insurance for his child;

    (c) The name, date of birth and social security number for the

child; and

    (d) A statement that any assistance needed to complete the

enrollment of the child in a plan of health insurance may be

obtained from the parents of the child and the enforcing authority.

    2.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, no enforcing

authority may mail or cause to be mailed a notice to enroll pursuant

to subsection 1 unless:

    (a) The enforcing authority first notifies the parent by certified

mail at his last known address of:

        (1) Its intent to seek enrollment of the child; and

        (2) The provisions of subsection 6; and

    (b) The parent fails, within 15 days after the notice is mailed, to

provide written proof to the enforcing authority that:

        (1) The parent has enrolled the child in a plan of health

insurance required by the order of the court; or

        (2) The coverage required by the order of the court was not

available at a reasonable cost for more than 30 days before the date

on which the notice was mailed.

    3.] The Welfare Division shall, by regulation, prescribe the

content of the notice and establish procedures for providing the

notice to ensure compliance with federal law.

    2.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, upon

receipt of a notice to enroll, mailed pursuant to subsection 1, the

employer or labor organization shall enroll the child named in the

notice in the plan of health insurance provided for his employees or

its members. The child must be enrolled without regard to any

restrictions upon periods for enrollment. If more than one plan is

offered by the employer or labor organization, and each plan may be

extended to cover the child, the child must be enrolled in the

parent’s plan. If the parent’s plan cannot be extended to cover the

child, the child must be enrolled in [the plan with the least expensive

option for providing] a plan that provides coverage for a dependent

that is otherwise available to the parent, subject to the eligibility

requirements of that plan. An employer, labor organization, health

maintenance organization or other insurer is not required to enroll

the child in a plan of health insurance if the child is not otherwise

eligible to be enrolled in that plan. If the child is not eligible to be

enrolled in the parent’s plan of health insurance, the employer or

labor organization shall notify the enforcing authority.

    3.  The employer or labor organization shall transfer the

notice to enroll to the administrator that provides coverage

pursuant to the plan of health insurance for which the child is

eligible within 20 business days after the date of the notice to

enroll. The administrator shall fully complete and return the

response form to the enforcing authority within 40 business days

after the date of the notice.

    4.  After the child is enrolled in a plan of health insurance, the

premiums required to be paid by the parent for the child’s coverage

[may] must be deducted from the parent’s wages. If the parent’s

wages are not sufficient to pay for those premiums, the employer or

labor organization shall notify the enforcing authority. A parent

may contest the withholding pursuant to NRS 31A.050.

    5.  A notice to enroll sent pursuant to subsection 1 has the same

effect as an enrollment application signed by the parent. No

employer or labor organization may refuse to enroll a child because

a parent has not signed an enrollment application.

    6.  [If the enforcing authority:

    (a) Has complied with the requirements of subsection 2

regarding a parent; and

    (b) Subsequently determines that the parent:

        (1) Has another employer or belongs to another labor

organization; and

        (2) Does not have the child enrolled in a plan of health

insurance as required by the order of the court,

the enforcing authority shall, without again complying with the

requirements of subsection 2, mail pursuant to subsection 1 a

subsequent notice to enroll to the other employer or labor

organization. Any employer or labor organization receiving such a

notice shall notify the parent immediately of the receipt of that

notice and comply with the provisions of this section unless, within

20 days after the notice was mailed to the employer or labor

organization, the enforcing authority notifies the employer or labor

organization that the parent has provided the enforcing authority

with written proof that the parent has enrolled the child in a plan of

health insurance required by the order of the court.

    7.] An employer or labor organization shall, without liability to

the parent, provide to the enforcing authority, upon request,

information about the name of the insurer and the number of the

parent’s policy of health insurance.

    [8.] 7.  The enforcing authority may withhold wages or other

income and require withholding of state tax refunds whenever the

responsible parent has received payment from the third party and

not used the payment to reimburse the other parent or provider to

the extent necessary to reimburse the Medicaid agency.

    [9.] 8.  The enforcing authority shall promptly notify the

employer or labor organization when there is no longer a current

order for medical support in effect for which the enforcing

authority is responsible.

    9.  The employer shall notify the enforcing authority when the

parent subject to the notice to enroll terminates his employment,

and provide the last known address of the parent and the name of

any new employer of the parent, if known.

    10.  If an employer or labor organization wrongfully refuses

to enroll a child in a plan of health insurance as required in this

section, or knowingly misrepresents that health insurance is not

available, the employer or labor organization may be held liable

for punitive damages and all unreimbursed medical expenses

incurred during the period in which insurance was not in effect.

    11.  An employer, labor organization or enforcing authority

who complies with a notice to enroll that is regular on its face may

not be held liable in any civil action for any conduct taken in

compliance with the notice.

    12.  The remedy provided by this section is in addition to, and

is not a substitute for, any other remedy available for the

enforcement of such an order.

    Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003.

 

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