exempt

                                                 (Reprinted with amendments adopted on April 14, 2003)

 

Assembly Bill No. 475–Committee on Ways and Means

 

(On Behalf of the Department of Administration)

 

March 24, 2003

____________

 

Referred to Concurrent Committees on Judiciary
and Ways and Means

 

SUMMARY—Makes various changes concerning providing health insurance for child pursuant to court order for support. (BDR 3‑1246)

 

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: No.

                           Effect on the State: No.

 

~

 

EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

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:

 

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

1-2  follows:

1-3  31A.350  1.  If a court orders a parent to obtain health

1-4  insurance for his child and the parent fails to [comply with the

1-5  order,] enroll the child and provide written proof to the enforcing

1-6  authority, the enforcing authority shall mail to the parent’s

1-7  employer or labor organization by first-class mail, a notice requiring

1-8  the employer or organization to enroll the child in the plan of health

1-9  insurance provided for his employees or its members. [The notice

1-10  must include:

1-11      (a) The parent’s name and social security number;

2-1  (b) A statement that the parent has been required by an order of

2-2  the court to obtain and maintain health insurance for his child;

2-3  (c) The name, date of birth and social security number for the

2-4  child; and

2-5  (d) A statement that any assistance needed to complete the

2-6  enrollment of the child in a plan of health insurance may be

2-7  obtained from the parents of the child and the enforcing authority.

2-8  2.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, no enforcing

2-9  authority may mail or cause to be mailed a notice to enroll pursuant

2-10  to subsection 1 unless:

2-11      (a) The enforcing authority first notifies the parent by certified

2-12  mail at his last known address of:

2-13          (1) Its intent to seek enrollment of the child; and

2-14          (2) The provisions of subsection 6; and

2-15      (b) The parent fails, within 15 days after the notice is mailed, to

2-16  provide written proof to the enforcing authority that:

2-17          (1) The parent has enrolled the child in a plan of health

2-18  insurance required by the order of the court; or

2-19          (2) The coverage required by the order of the court was not

2-20  available at a reasonable cost for more than 30 days before the date

2-21  on which the notice was mailed.

2-22      3.] The Welfare Division shall, by regulation, prescribe the

2-23  content of the notice and establish procedures for providing the

2-24  notice to ensure compliance with federal law.

2-25      2.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, upon

2-26  receipt of a notice to enroll, mailed pursuant to subsection 1, the

2-27  employer or labor organization shall enroll the child named in the

2-28  notice in the plan of health insurance provided for his employees or

2-29  its members. The child must be enrolled without regard to any

2-30  restrictions upon periods for enrollment. If more than one plan is

2-31  offered by the employer or labor organization, and each plan may be

2-32  extended to cover the child, the child must be enrolled in the

2-33  parent’s plan. If the parent’s plan cannot be extended to cover the

2-34  child, the child must be enrolled in [the plan with the least expensive

2-35  option for providing] a plan that provides coverage for a dependent

2-36  that is otherwise available to the parent, subject to the eligibility

2-37  requirements of that plan. An employer, labor organization, health

2-38  maintenance organization or other insurer is not required to enroll

2-39  the child in a plan of health insurance if the child is not otherwise

2-40  eligible to be enrolled in that plan. If the child is not eligible to be

2-41  enrolled in the parent’s plan of health insurance, the employer or

2-42  labor organization shall notify the enforcing authority.

2-43      3.  The employer or labor organization shall transfer the

2-44  notice to enroll to the administrator that provides coverage

2-45  pursuant to the plan of health insurance for which the child is

3-1  eligible within 20 business days after the date of the notice to

3-2  enroll. The administrator shall fully complete and return the

3-3  response form to the enforcing authority within 40 business days

3-4  after the date of the notice.

3-5  4.  After the child is enrolled in a plan of health insurance, the

3-6  premiums required to be paid by the parent for the child’s coverage

3-7  [may] must be deducted from the parent’s wages. If the parent’s

3-8  wages are not sufficient to pay for those premiums, the employer or

3-9  labor organization shall notify the enforcing authority. A parent

3-10  may contest the withholding pursuant to NRS 31A.050.

3-11      5.  A notice to enroll sent pursuant to subsection 1 has the same

3-12  effect as an enrollment application signed by the parent. No

3-13  employer or labor organization may refuse to enroll a child because

3-14  a parent has not signed an enrollment application.

3-15      6.  [If the enforcing authority:

3-16      (a) Has complied with the requirements of subsection 2

3-17  regarding a parent; and

3-18      (b) Subsequently determines that the parent:

3-19          (1) Has another employer or belongs to another labor

3-20  organization; and

3-21          (2) Does not have the child enrolled in a plan of health

3-22  insurance as required by the order of the court,

3-23  the enforcing authority shall, without again complying with the

3-24  requirements of subsection 2, mail pursuant to subsection 1 a

3-25  subsequent notice to enroll to the other employer or labor

3-26  organization. Any employer or labor organization receiving such a

3-27  notice shall notify the parent immediately of the receipt of that

3-28  notice and comply with the provisions of this section unless, within

3-29  20 days after the notice was mailed to the employer or labor

3-30  organization, the enforcing authority notifies the employer or labor

3-31  organization that the parent has provided the enforcing authority

3-32  with written proof that the parent has enrolled the child in a plan of

3-33  health insurance required by the order of the court.

3-34      7.] An employer or labor organization shall, without liability to

3-35  the parent, provide to the enforcing authority, upon request,

3-36  information about the name of the insurer and the number of the

3-37  parent’s policy of health insurance.

3-38      [8.] 7.  The enforcing authority may withhold wages or other

3-39  income and require withholding of state tax refunds whenever the

3-40  responsible parent has received payment from the third party and

3-41  not used the payment to reimburse the other parent or provider to

3-42  the extent necessary to reimburse the Medicaid agency.

3-43      [9.] 8.  The enforcing authority shall promptly notify the

3-44  employer or labor organization when there is no longer a current

4-1  order for medical support in effect for which the enforcing

4-2  authority is responsible.

4-3  9.  The employer shall notify the enforcing authority when the

4-4  parent subject to the notice to enroll terminates his employment,

4-5  and provide the last known address of the parent and the name of

4-6  any new employer of the parent, if known.

4-7  10.  If an employer or labor organization wrongfully refuses

4-8  to enroll a child in a plan of health insurance as required in this

4-9  section, or knowingly misrepresents that health insurance is not

4-10  available, the employer or labor organization may be held liable

4-11  for punitive damages and all unreimbursed medical expenses

4-12  incurred during the period in which insurance was not in effect.

4-13      11.  An employer, labor organization or enforcing authority

4-14  who complies with a notice to enroll that is regular on its face may

4-15  not be held liable in any civil action for any conduct taken in

4-16  compliance with the notice.

4-17      12.  The remedy provided by this section is in addition to, and

4-18  is not a substitute for, any other remedy available for the

4-19  enforcement of such an order.

4-20      Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003.

 

4-21  H