AN ACT Relating to
child support technical amendments regarding medical support; amending RCW
26.18.170; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 26.18.170 and 2000 c
86 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Whenever an obligor
parent who has been ordered to provide health insurance coverage for a
dependent child fails to provide such coverage or lets it lapse, the department
or the obligee may seek enforcement of the coverage order as provided under
this section.
(2)(a) If the obligor
parent's order to provide health insurance coverage contains language notifying
the obligor that failure to provide such coverage or proof that such coverage
is unavailable may result in direct enforcement of the order and orders
payments through, or has been submitted to, the Washington state support
registry for enforcement, then the department may, without further notice to
the obligor, send a notice of enrollment to the obligor's employer or union.
The notice shall be served:
(i) By regular mail;
(ii) In the manner
prescribed for the service of a summons in a civil action;
(iii) By certified
mail, return receipt requested; or
(iv) By electronic
means if there is an agreement between the secretary of the department and the
person, firm, corporation, association, political subdivision, department of
the state, or agency, subdivision, or instrumentality of the United States to
accept service by electronic means.
(b) The notice shall
require the employer or union to enroll the child in the health insurance plan
as provided in subsection (3) of this section.
(c) The returned answer
to the division of child support by the employer constitutes proof of service
of the notice of enrollment in the case where the notice was served by regular
mail.
(d) The division of
child support may use ((uniform interstate forms adopted by the United States
department of health and human services)) the national medical support
notice to take insurance enrollment actions under this section. The
department may specify by rule the responsibilities of employers and plan
administrators to comply with the requirements of the national medical support
notice. The division of child support must, where appropriate, send the
national medical support notice with a notice of payroll deduction or income
withholding order within two days after a noncustodial parent is reported to
the Washington state support registry as a new hire.
(e) If the obligor
parent's order to provide health insurance coverage does not order payments
through, and has not been submitted to, the Washington state support registry
for enforcement:
(i) The obligee may,
without further notice to the obligor send a certified copy of the order
requiring health insurance coverage to the obligor's employer or union by
certified mail, return receipt requested; and
(ii) The obligee shall
attach a notarized statement to the order declaring that the order is the
latest order addressing coverage entered by the court and require the employer
or union to enroll the child in the health insurance plan as provided in
subsection (3) of this section.
(3) Upon receipt of an
order that provides for health insurance coverage, or a notice of enrollment:
(a) The obligor's
employer or union shall answer the party who sent the order or notice within
twenty days and confirm that the child:
(i) Has been enrolled
in the health insurance plan;
(ii) Will be enrolled;
or
(iii) Cannot be
covered, stating the reasons why such coverage cannot be provided;
(b) The employer or
union shall withhold any required premium from the obligor's income or wages;
(c) If more than one
plan is offered by the employer or union, and each plan may be extended to
cover the child, then the child shall be enrolled in the obligor's plan. If
the obligor's plan does not provide coverage which is accessible to the child,
the child shall be enrolled in the least expensive plan otherwise available to
the obligor parent;
(d) The employer or
union shall provide information about the name of the health insurance coverage
provider or issuer and the extent of coverage available to the obligee or the
department and shall make available any necessary claim forms or enrollment
membership cards.
(4) If the order for
coverage contains no language notifying the obligor that failure to provide
health insurance coverage or proof that such coverage is unavailable may result
in direct enforcement of the order, the department or the obligee may serve a
written notice of intent to enforce the order on the obligor by certified mail,
return receipt requested, or by personal service. If the obligor fails to
provide written proof that such coverage has been obtained or applied for or
fails to provide proof that such coverage is unavailable within twenty days of
service of the notice, the department or the obligee may proceed to enforce the
order directly as provided in subsection (2) of this section.
(5) If the obligor
ordered to provide health insurance coverage elects to provide coverage that
will not be accessible to the child because of geographic or other limitations
when accessible coverage is otherwise available, the department or the obligee
may serve a written notice of intent to purchase health insurance coverage on
the obligor by certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice shall also
specify the type and cost of coverage.
(6) If the department
serves a notice under subsection (5) of this section the obligor shall, within
twenty days of the date of service:
(a) File an application
for an adjudicative proceeding; or
(b) Provide written
proof to the department that the obligor has either applied for, or obtained,
coverage accessible to the child.
(7) If the obligee
serves a notice under subsection (5) of this section, within twenty days of the
date of service the obligor shall provide written proof to the obligee that the
obligor has either applied for, or obtained, coverage accessible to the child.
(8) If the obligor
fails to respond to a notice served under subsection (5) of this section to the
party who served the notice, the party who served the notice may purchase the health
insurance coverage specified in the notice directly. The amount of the monthly
premium shall be added to the support debt and be collectible without further
notice. The amount of the monthly premium may be collected or accrued until
the obligor provides proof of the required coverage.
(9) The signature of
the obligee or of a department employee shall be a valid authorization to the
coverage provider or issuer for purposes of processing a payment to the child's
health services provider. An order for health insurance coverage shall operate
as an assignment of all benefit rights to the obligee or to the child's health
services provider, and in any claim against the coverage provider or issuer,
the obligee or the obligee's assignee shall be subrogated to the rights of the
obligor. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section regarding assignment
of benefits, this section shall not require a health care service contractor
authorized under chapter 48.44 RCW or a health maintenance organization authorized
under chapter 48.46 RCW to deviate from their contractual provisions and
restrictions regarding reimbursement for covered services. If the coverage is
terminated, the employer shall mail a notice of termination to the department
or the obligee at the obligee's last known address within thirty days of the
termination date.
(10) This section shall
not be construed to limit the right of the obligor or the obligee to bring an
action in superior court at any time to enforce, modify, or clarify the
original support order.
(11) Where a child does
not reside in the issuer's service area, an issuer shall cover no less than
urgent and emergent care. Where the issuer offers broader coverage, whether by
policy or reciprocal agreement, the issuer shall provide such coverage to any
child otherwise covered that does not reside in the issuer's service area.
(12) If an obligor
fails to pay his or her portion of any deductible required under the health
insurance coverage or fails to pay his or her portion of medical expenses
incurred in excess of the coverage provided under the plan, the department or
the obligee may enforce collection of the obligor's portion of the deductible
or the additional medical expenses through a wage assignment order. The amount
of the deductible or additional medical expenses shall be added to the support
debt and be collectible without further notice if the obligor's share of the
amount of the deductible or additional expenses is reduced to a sum certain in
a court order.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
2. (1) The legislature's
delegation of authority to an agency under this act is strictly limited to:
(a) The minimum
delegation necessary to administer the act's clear and unambiguous directives;
and
(b) The administration
of circumstances and behaviors foreseeable at the time of enactment.
(2) Agency actions or
rules authorized by this act are subject to the following additional standards
of judicial review, which supercede RCW 34.05.570 (1) and (2) to the extent of
any conflict:
(a) Agencies bear the
burden of demonstrating that the agency action:
(i) Was authorized by
law; and
(ii) Was valid, when
the interest of a party asserting invalidity arises from agency actions
imposing a penalty on the asserting party;
(b) The validity of a
rule may be determined upon petition for declaratory judgment addressed to any
superior court in this state; and
(c) In
determining whether, under RCW 34.05.570(2)(c), a rule exceeds the agency's
statutory authority, the court must also consider whether the rule exceeds the
limited delegation under subsection (1) of this section.
