Child Support Enforcement program; medical support enforcement--HHS. Final rule

This regulation amends the Child Support Enforcement program regulations governing medical support enforcement activities and responds to comments made on the proposed regulations published in the Federal Register on August 4, 1983 (48 FR 35468). The regulation also implements section 16 of Pub. L. 98-378. Under this regulation, the IV-D agency must obtain basic medical support information and provide this information to the State Medicaid agency. Also, if the custodial parent does not have satisfactory health insurance coverage, the IV-D agency must petition the court or administrative authority to include medical support in new or modified support orders and inform the State Medicaid agency of any new or modified support orders that include a medical support obligation. Finally, the IV-D agency must take steps to enforce medical support which has been ordered by a court or administrative process under State law by assuring that coverage is acquired as ordered. These activities increase the use of available third party resources in the form of private health insurance, thus increasing medical cost savings to State and Federal governments under the Medicaid program. Federal funding is available to IV-D agencies for required medical support activities. Prior to these regulations, medical support activities were pursued by IV-D agencies only under optional cooperative agreements with Medicaid agencies.