There are two types of medical support enforcement, collection of Uninsured Medical Expenses and Insurance Enforcement.
Uninsured Medical Expenses are specific to each court order. Some orders have a percentage, some orders include ordinary medical, and some orders have no collection provision. Uninsured medical expenses are those expenses typically not covered by insurance. This would include but is not limited to prescriptions, doctor/dental office visits, optical expenses, and orthodontic expenses. Expenses not typically included are band aides, cold medicine, aspirin, ointments, and ace bandages.
Prior to requesting collection of uninsured medical expenses please check your most recent order to clarify what provisions are contained in that order. Law changes make each order different depending on when it was entered. Some orders only refer to a previous order so you will need to read all provisions of that previous order.
If your uninsured medical order contains a provision for Ordinary Medical support the payee will need to meet the annual ordinary amount before requesting reimbursement. This annual amount is incorporated into the child support order in addition to support. If the payer of child support is requesting reimbursement, the deductible does not typically apply.
The definition of ordinary medical expenses as reported in the Michigan Child Support Formula is: “Ordinary health care and medical expenses include the payee’s co-payments, deductibles, uninsured, and other health care related costs for the children eligible for support in the case.” Routine remedial care items are not “ordinary expenses.”
The Annual Ordinary Expense is calculated by the average cost spent in Michigan per child on ordinary medical expenses. This amount can change depending on the parties’ income.
According to the Michigan Child Support Formula the annual average amount is:
- 1 child $289.00 per year
- 2 children $578.00 per year
- 3 children $867.00 per year
- 4 children $1,156.00 per year
- 5 children or more $1,445.00
The process for collection of uninsured medical expenses is designed for parties to work together and pay directly to each other. If this is not an option for your family please follow the instructions for collection of uninsured medical expenses.
Payers of support have 21 days after the Friend of the Court has contacted them to pay the party directly with a copy to the Friend of the Court or make payment to the Friend of the Court with consent to pay the expenses. If no agreement is reached and payment is not made, the Friend of the Court will charge the account and collect through income withholding or other enforcement actions.
Please view our Guide For Collection of Uninsured Health Care Expenses for more information
Page Last Modified: May 16, 2008 at 10:29 am
