C.S.H.B. 2001 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2001
By: Dutton
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The Texas Family Code provides for the establishment and enforcement of
child support and medical support obligations in suits affecting the
parent-child relationships. Among the provisions of the Family Code are
procedures for the ordering of medical support for a minor child in a suit
affecting the parent-child relationship (Chapter 154) or in a proceeding
under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (Chapter 159).
Many of the procedures laid out in the Family Code with respect to the
establishment, modification, and enforcement of child support and medical
support for a child have resulted from mandates under federal law
relating to requirements that must be met by states in order to receive
federal funding both for their child support enforcement programs (under
Title IV-D of the Social Security Act - the "IV-D" program administered in
Texas through the Child Support Division of the Office of the Attorney
General) and for their cash welfare programs ("Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families" - TANF, administered in Texas through the Department of
Human Services).
In the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA) (Pub. L. 103-66),
Congress attempted to remove some of the impediments to state IV-D agency
attempts, to secure and enforce medical coverage for children in IV-D
cases. OBRA contained many improvements that facilitated obtaining and
enforcing medical coverage, including the creation of "qualified medical
child support orders" (QMCSOs) to obtain coverage for dependent children
of employees from group health plans subject to the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
Despite improved state procedures mandated by federal law for the
establishment and enforcement of medical support for children, states have
experienced continuing difficulty in satisfying specific conditions of
ERISA, particularly with respect to informational requirements and
restrictions against requiring new types or forms of benefits. The OBRA
remedy of the QMCSO did not fully address the needs and concerns of
sponsors and administrators of groups health plans (as defined under
Section 607 of ERISA).
Under Section 401 of the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of
1998 (CSPIA), Congress required the Secretaries of the federal departments
of Health and Human Services and Labor jointly to develop and promulgate
a federal "National Medical Support Notice" for the enforcement of the
medical support obligations of non-custodial parents in Title IV-D cases.
The purpose of C.S.H.B.2001 is to bring Texas into compliance with the
federal requirement under 42 U.S.C. Section 666(a)(19) that all state IV-D
agencies use the National Medical Support Notice to enforce the health
care coverage provision in a child support order. Specifically, it
requires the state's Title IV-D agency to use the Notice in appropriate
cases and, under the agency's existing rulemaking authority (Section
231.002, Family Code), to establish procedures
for the use of the Notice. Although not part of the federal requirement,
the bill also extends the use of the Notice to child support cases not
being enforced by the Title IV-D agency.
The failure of Texas to comply with the federal mandate to use the
National Medical Support Notice in appropriate Title IV-D cases and to
make state law effective July 1, 2003, puts Texas at risk of losing all
federal funding for its child support enforcement program and its cash
assistance (TANF) program, which in SFY 2003 has amounted to nearly $712
million.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly
granted to the Title IV-D agency in SECTION 1 (Section 154.186, Family
Code) of this bill.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 154.186, Family Code, to add Subsection (b) to
require the Title IV-D agency to use the National Medical Support Notice
in appropriate cases. The notice also may be used in any other suit in
which an obligor is ordered to provide health insurance coverage for a
child. Additionally, subsection (c) authorizes the Title IV-D agency by
rule to establish procedures for the use of the notice, as well as
prescribe forms for the efficient use of the notice consistent with
federal requirements. The agency shall provide the notice and forms, on
request, to obligees, obligors, domestic relations offices, friends of the
court, and attorneys.
SECTION 2.Amends Section 154.187, Family Code, to require an employer who
receives the National Medical Support Notice to implement its use to
comply with the requirements of the medical support order or notice.
SECTION 3.States an effective date of July 1, 2003, conforming to the
federal requirement [65 Fed. Reg.82166] that state law requiring the use
of the National Medical Support Notice must be effective no later than the
close of the first day of the first calendar quarter that begins after the
close of the first regular session of the state legislature that begins
after October 1, 2001. This effective date is dependent upon the vote of
two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by
Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution, otherwise the effective date
is September 1, 2003.
EFFECTIVE DATE
July 1, 2003, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect
September 1, 2003.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
C.S.H.B.2001 modifies the original H.B.2001 by providing that the notice
may be used in any other suit in which an obligor is ordered to provide
health insurance coverage for a child. C.S.H.B.2001 also provides that the
agency shall provide the notice and forms, on request, to obligees,
obligors, domestic relations offices, friends of the court, and attorneys.
Finally, C.S.H.B.2001 requires an employer who receives the National
Medical Support Notice to implement its use to comply with the
requirements of the medical support order or notice.