HHS: Both Parents Should Help Cover Children of Divorce
States should consider the health care coverage available to both parents, not just "non-custodial" parents, when enforcing "medical support orders" that ensure children from "broken homes" receive health coverage, HHS and the Department of Labor recommended in a report given to Congress on Tuesday. The recommendation was one of 76 offered by the Medical Child Working Group, a panel created by Congress to devise strategies to more effectively enforce medical support orders, which "provide for health coverage for child-support eligible kids who come from families of divorced, separated or never-married parents." The report, titled "Twenty-One Million Children's Health: Our Shared Responsibility," found that three million of the 21 million children eligible for child-support services lack health coverage, stating, "These children have substantially less access to health care services ... [which] are also far more likely to be delayed due to cost," (Reuters Health, 8/17). HHS Secretary Donna Shalala added, "This report provides helpful recommendations to ensure that children receive critical health care coverage through every possible means including parents' private insurance or joint federal-state programs such as Medicaid or the State Child Health Insurance Program." The report is the latest in a series of Clinton administration efforts to bolster child-support enforcement. The number of families receiving support since 1992 has jumped more than 59% along with an 80% increase in collections ( HHS release, 8/15).
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