79R17770 KSD-D


By:  Seliger                                                      S.B. No. 952

Substitute the following for S.B. No. 952:                                    

By:  Goodman                                                  C.S.S.B. No. 952


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to medical support for a child. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 154.182, Family Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1), (d), and (e) to read as follows: (b) In determining the manner in which health insurance for the child is to be ordered, the court shall render its order in accordance with the following priorities, unless a party shows good cause why a particular order would not be in the best interest of the child: (1) if health insurance is available for the child through the obligor's employment or membership in a union, trade association, or other organization at reasonable cost to the obligor, the court shall order the obligor to include the child in the obligor's health insurance; (2) if health insurance is not available for the child through the obligor's employment but is available for the child at a reasonable cost through the obligee's employment or membership in a union, trade association, or other organization, the court may order the obligee to provide health insurance for the child, and, in such event, shall order the obligor to pay additional child support to be withheld from earnings under Chapter 158 to the obligee for the actual cost of the health insurance for the child; (3) if health insurance is not available for the child under Subdivision (1) or (2), the court shall order the obligor to provide health insurance for the child if the court finds that health insurance is available to the obligor for the child from another source and at reasonable cost; (4) if neither parent has access to private health insurance at a reasonable cost, the court: (A) shall order that the custodial parent or, to the extent permitted by law, the noncustodial parent immediately apply on behalf of the child for participation in a medical assistance program under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, or the state child health plan under Chapter 62, Health and Safety Code, and that the obligor pay additional child support, to be withheld from income under Chapter 158, to the obligee for the actual cost of participation of the child in the state child health plan; and (B) may order the obligor to pay an additional amount to the state for reimbursement of any or all costs incurred by the state in providing coverage for the child under a medical assistance program or the state child health plan described by Paragraph (A); or (5) if health coverage is not available for the child under Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4), the court shall order the obligor to pay the obligee, in addition to any amount ordered under the guidelines for child support, a reasonable amount each month as medical support for the child to be withheld from earnings under Chapter 158. (b-1) The sum of the amount an obligor is ordered to pay under Subsection (b)(4)(A) in a month and the amount the obligor is ordered to pay under Subsection (b)(4)(B) in a month may not exceed 10 percent of the obligor's net income in a month. (d) Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(4)(B), the court may not order an obligor to pay an additional amount under that subsection if the child was enrolled in the state child health plan described by Subsection (b)(4)(A) on the date a court rendered a final decree of dissolution of a marriage between the obligor and obligee. (e) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission by rule shall establish procedures for the collection by the commission of any amount owed by a child support obligor under Subsection (b)(4)(B). SECTION 2. (a) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall adopt the rules required by Section 154.182(e), Family Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act. (b) Not later than December 31, 2006, the Health and Human Services Commission shall submit to the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives a report regarding the implementation by the commission of the procedures established under Section 154.182(e), Family Code, as added by this Act. SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a medical support order rendered in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship on or after the effective date of this Act. A medical support order rendered in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.