As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1.“Accessible” means any of the following, unless otherwise provided in the support
order:
a.The health benefit plan does not have service area limitations or provides an option not
subject to service area limitations.
b.Thehealthbenefitplanhasservicearealimitationsandthedependentliveswithinthirty
miles or thirty minutes of a network primary care provider.
2.“Basic coverage” means health care coverage that at a minimum provides coverage for
emergency care, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, physician services whether provided
within or outside a hospital setting, and laboratory and x-ray services.
3.“Cash medical support” means a monetary amount that a parent is ordered to pay
to the obligee in lieu of that parent pr
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As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. “Accessible” means any of the following, unless otherwise provided in the support
order:
a. The health benefit plan does not have service area limitations or provides an option not
subject to service area limitations.
b. Thehealthbenefitplanhasservicearealimitationsandthedependentliveswithinthirty
miles or thirty minutes of a network primary care provider.
2. “Basic coverage” means health care coverage that at a minimum provides coverage for
emergency care, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, physician services whether provided
within or outside a hospital setting, and laboratory and x-ray services.
3. “Cash medical support” means a monetary amount that a parent is ordered to pay
to the obligee in lieu of that parent providing health care coverage, which amount is five
percent of the gross income of the parent ordered to pay the monetary amount or, if the child
support guidelines established pursuant to section 598.21B specifically provide an alternative
income-based numeric standard for determining the amount, the amount determined by the
standard specified by the child support guidelines. “Cash medical support” is an obligation
separate from any monetary amount a parent is ordered to pay for uncovered medical
expenses pursuant to the guidelines established pursuant to section 598.21B.
4. “Child” means a person for whom child or medical support may be ordered pursuant
to chapter 234, 239B, 252A, 252C, 252F, 252H, 252K, 598, 600B, or any other chapter of the
Code or pursuant to a comparable statute of another state or foreign country.
5. “Child support services” means child support services created in section 252B.2.
6. “Department” means the department of health and human services, which includes but
is not limited to child support services, or any comparable support enforcement agency of
another state.
7. “Dependent” means a child, or an obligee for whom a court may order health care
coverage pursuant to section 252E.3.
8. “Enroll” means to be eligible for and covered by a health benefit plan.
9. “Health benefit plan” means any policy or contract of insurance, indemnity,
subscription, or membership issued by an insurer, health service corporation, health
maintenance organization, or any similar corporation or organization, any public coverage,
or any self-insured employee benefit plan, for the purpose of covering medical expenses.
These expenses may include but are not limited to hospital, surgical, major medical
insurance, dental, optical, prescription drugs, office visits, or any combination of these or
any other comparable health care expenses.
§252E.1, MEDICAL SUPPORT 2
10. “Health care coverage” or “coverage” means providing and paying for the medical
needs of a dependent through a health benefit plan.
11. “Insurer” means any entity, including a health service corporation, health
maintenance organization, or any similar corporation or organization, or an employer
offering self-insurance, that provides a health benefit plan, but does not include an entity
that provides public coverage.
12. “Medical support” means either the provision of health care coverage or the payment
of cash medical support. “Medical support” is not alimony.
13. “National medical support notice” means a notice as prescribed under 42 U.S.C.
§666(a)(19) or a substantially similar notice, that is issued and forwarded by the department
in accordance with section 252E.4 to enforce the health care coverage provisions of a support
order. The national medical support notice is not applicable to a provider of public coverage.
14. “Obligee” means a parent or another natural person legally entitled to receive a
support payment on behalf of a child.
15. “Obligor”meansaparentoranothernaturalpersonlegallyresponsibleforthesupport
of a dependent.
16. “Order” means a support order entered pursuant to chapter 234, 252A, 252C, 252F,
252H, 252K, 598, 600B, or any other support chapter, or pursuant to a comparable statute
of another state or foreign country, or an ex parte order entered pursuant to section 252E.4.
“Order” also includes a notice of such an order issued by the department.
17. “Planadministrator”meanstheemployerorsponsorthatoffersthehealthbenefitplan
or the person to whom the duty of plan administrator is delegated by the employer or sponsor
offering the health benefit plan, by written agreement of the parties. “Plan administrator”
does not include a provider of public coverage.
18. “Primary care provider” means a physician who provides primary care who is a family
or general practitioner, a pediatrician, an internist, an obstetrician, or a gynecologist; an
advanced registered nurse practitioner; or a physician assistant.
19. “Public coverage” means health care benefits provided by any form of federal or state
medicalassistance, includingbutnotlimitedtobenefitsprovidedunderchapter249Aor514I,
or under comparable laws of another state, foreign country, or Indian nation or tribe.