Uninsured medical expense terms in child support orders

When parents divorce, they have to come up with terms of how to handle the child’s expenses. Typically, this means that one parent pays for the medical expenses for the kid. One parent might be ordered to carry the child on their health insurance plan, but there are usually some medical expenses that aren’t covered by these policies. Because of this, there must be information about how uninsured medical expenses will be handled.

A few of the more common uninsured medical expenses that fall under these orders include co-pays, deductibles and prescription costs. Essentially anything that has to be paid out of pocket would need a plan.

The way you work these terms out can vary some. There might be a dollar limit that one parent has to pay before the other parent has to start paying. In other cases, the parents split these costs based on a predetermined percentage division. For example, one parent might pay 40% while the other pays 60% or they may divide these costs equally. Oftentimes, this depends on how the parents’ income compares.

Another factor to think about in these cases is what qualifies as a covered medical expense. Typically, elective care options aren’t subjected to these terms unless both parents agree to the procedure. An example of this is if a child needs orthodontic braces solely for cosmetic reasons. The parents should agree to split the cost or the parent who authorizes the braces would have to cover the full out of pocket cost.

No matter what terms you agree to for this matter, make sure that the payment arrangement is clearly denoted in the court order. This ensures you can turn to the documentation if there are ever any questions about what needs to happen.