Update: New Law About Health Insurance and Child Support

Recently, I wrote The Basics of Child Support and Health Insurance in the Family Matters e-Newsletter. In it, I discussed the requirement that a NC judge must order a parent to provide health insurance for a child if it is available at a reasonable cost: For now, reasonable cost is defined as insurance that is available at a group rate, which is offered by some employers. This standard has existed for years but it will probably be changed as more parents buy individual policies through the Health Insurance Marketplace.  

As I suspected, the NC Legislature has just changed the law to reflect the change in the way health insurance is obtained and maintained. The 2015 NC Child Support Guidelines were just amended outside of the standard review time of every 4 years. The new statute, Session Law 2015-220, is effective immediately. The new law says health insurance is “. . . considered reasonable in cost if the coverage for the child is available at a cost to the parent that does not exceed five percent (5%) of the parent’s gross income. In applying this standard, the cost is the cost of (i) adding the child to the parent’s existing coverage, (ii) child-only coverage, or (iii) if new coverage must be obtained, the difference between the cost of self-only and family coverage.”

Amy A. Edwards is a family law attorney in Greenville, NC, certified by the NC State Bar Board of Legal Specialization as a Family Law Specialist, and is licensed only in NC. Laws change.  This article is current as of  September 2015. www.AmyEdwardsFamilyLaw.com    © 2015.