GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 1062
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/30/97

Short Title:  Child Support/Health Coverage.	(Public)

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Sponsors: 

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Referred to:  

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April 21, 1997

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A PLAN FOR PROVIDING LOW-COST HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE TO CHILDREN WHOSE PARENTS ARE ORDERED TO MAINTAIN HEALTH INSURANCE UNDER ORDERS ENFORCED BY THE DEPARTMENT.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  (a) The Department of Human Resources shall develop and implement a program to provide low-cost health care coverage for children for whom the Department enforces child support orders.  The purpose of the program is to increase the number of these children who have health care coverage by offering their parents a choice of health care plans the premiums for which are lower than that available through the employer or on the individual market.  Persons eligible for the program are noncustodial parents who are under an order enforced by the Department to maintain health insurance for their dependent children. The program shall:
(1)	Include procedures for soliciting proposals from private health insurers, including managed care companies, to participate in the program;
(2)	Provide for administration of benefits and premium collections;
(3)	Ensure that access to the Plan is available to eligible children throughout the State; and
(4)	Establish requirements for insurer participation that address the purposes of the program.
(b)	Health care plans offered under the program may include, but are not limited to, the following provisions:
(1)	Guaranteed enrollment of all eligible children;
(2)	Full health care coverage at a premium rate approved by the Department of Insurance that is at or lower than the average premium rate for coverage offered through the employer or on the individual market;
(3)	The plan shall be the primary payor of health care costs of covered children, thereby reducing State Medicaid expenditures for these costs;
(4)	Guaranteed continued coverage for children who move to another area of the State;
(5)	No preexisting condition exclusions;
(6)	The custodial parent may assume premium payment in the event the noncustodial parent becomes unemployed or defaults on premium payments;
(7)	Coverage will be provided so long as eligibility requirements are met and premiums are paid; and
(8)	Other provisions deemed necessary and appropriate to carry out the purpose of the program.
In developing the program the Department shall review similar programs in other states to determine the scope and success of those programs and the desirability and feasibility of implementing similar program components in North Carolina.
(c)	The Department shall develop and conduct the program on a pilot basis.  The Department shall report to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the cochairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Human Resources, and the Fiscal Research Division on March 1, 1998, on the development and implementation of the pilot program.  The report shall include recommendations on implementing the program statewide, and shall also include findings and recommendations, including any additional costs or savings that may result, on whether the program should be available to all parents who are subject to a court order to maintain health insurance for their dependent children.
Section 2.  The Department of Human Resources shall develop a plan for collecting and retrieving data from child support orders filed by the clerks of court.  The purpose of the plan is to enable the Department to readily ascertain how many children covered by support orders are covered under private health insurance and also are eligible for coverage under the State Medicaid program.  The Department shall report on the development of this plan to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the cochairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Human Resources, and the Fiscal Research Division no later than October 1, 1998.  The report shall include recommendations on any appropriations or statutory changes needed to implement the plan.
Section 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.