The information here is to explain 252E.1A and how it applies. Check out our Health Insurance Questionnaire — Click Here as it should help you.
Self-Employed Income
If you have indicated the income of a party as "self-employed" income, that raises two issues.
Self-employed individuals may be eligible to benefit from the 20% pass-through tax opportunity provided via the Trump tax act. Click Here to learn more.
In your case, if cash medical support would ordinarily apply, the NCP self-employed worker will not be ordered to pay cash medical support.
The checkbox on the Medical screen
Below is the image of the checkbox in the "Medical" screen related to the application of 252E.1A. Checking the box removes cash medical support and adds those monies that would ordinarily be paid as cash medical back into the mix for the calculation of child support. The short version is, if the kids are covered under a private plan of insurance (ie. Wellmark, American Family), don't check the box as it does not apply. If the kids have no insurance or are on Title 19 or hawk-i, keep reading.
The three exemptions — 252E.1A(4)
252E.1A(4) provides three circumstances where the NCP would ordinarily be required to pay cash medical support that cash medical is waived. The checkbox applies to sections B or C as detailed below (in this color font).
A. 252E.1A(4)(a) — This provision provides that a low-income NCP will not be ordered to contribute toward the cost of any coverage, public or private. Do not check the box. Iowa Support Master will automatically remove cash medical if the NCP is low-income.
B. 252E.1A(4)(b) — If the kids have no coverage or if they are covered by Medicaid/Title 19 or hawk-i, and the NCP does not have income which may be subject to income withholding for collection of cash medical support at the time of the entry of the order, the NCP will not be ordered to pay cash medical support. Example: the kids are on hawk-i and the sole source of income for the NCP is through self-employment. In such a case, NCP will not be ordered to pay cash medical. The court must order the NCP to obtain a health care plan when it becomes available at a reasonable cost. If the NCP is self-employed, but also working at a paycheck job (do they get a paycheck?), such as Home Depot, NCP must pay cash medical. The paycheck job allows for income withholding so they must pay cash medical. This section does not apply if the CP has the kids covered by a private plan, NCP will be ordered to contribute toward the cost unless he/she is "low-income". This section applies if the kids have no coverage or they are covered by Title XIX or hawk-i. If so, you would check the box.
Code language: The NCP will not be required to contribute cash medical if…
b. The noncustodial parent does not have income which may be subject to income withholding for collection of cash medical support at the time of the entry of the order. If this paragraph applies, the court shall order the noncustodial parent to provide health care coverage when a health benefit plan becomes available at a reasonable cost, and the order shall specify the amount of the reasonable cost.
C. 252E.1A(4)(c) — If the kids have no coverage or if they are covered by Medicaid/Title 19 or hawk-i, and the NCP is receiving "assistance", such as Medicaid/Title 19, NCP will not be ordered to pay cash medical support. Secondly, if there is a child living with the NCP for whom the NCP owes an obligation or duty, and that child is on Medicaid/Title 19 or hawk-i, the NCP shall not be ordered to pay cash medical support. The child living with the NCP does not have to belong to the CP. In either case, the court shall order the NCP to provide health care coverage when a plan becomes available for which there is no premium cost. If this section applies, check the box.
Code language: The NCP will not be required to contribute toward cash medical…
c. If the noncustodial parent is receiving assistance or is residing with any child receiving assistance as provided in section 252E.2A, subsection 1, paragraph "c", subparagraph 3(3) or (4). If this paragraph applies, the court shall order the noncustodial parent to provide health care coverage when a health benefit plan becomes available for which there is no premium cost for a child to the parent.
When no plan is available — 252E.1A(5)
252E.1A(5) — If a private health benefit plan is not available to either parent, and the CP has the kids on Title 19 or hawk-i, the court shall order the CP to provide health care coverage, and the court shall order the NCP to pay cash medical, unless an exception under 252E.1A(4) applies.
To-The-Point
H.F. 2414, 252E.1A(7) now says an order entered before 10-1-18 may be modified in accordance with this section. It is not a new statute but 598.21C(1)(c) talks about modifications based on changes in medical expenses of a party. Under these changes, I believe you may file for modification.
The presumption of a substantial change in circumstances for a 10% change in the amount of the child support is found in 598.21C(2)(a). That is in addition to the criteria found in 598.21C(1). If you can show a substantial change in relation to the medical support, I don't believe that you would necessarily also have to show a 10% change in the child support. Here is the rub, in theory, if you can prove a change in the medical support, the court could also modify child support even if the change in child support is less than 10%.
Because the medical support factors directly into the calculation of child support, before you file for a modification based solely on the new medical statutes in 252E, you might want to look at what may possibly happen in both medical support and child support, as ultimately both may be changed in a modification action, and determine whether the possible outcomes suggest that you should file a petition to modify.
252E.1A(4)(a) No matter whether the kids are covered or not, if the NCP is "low income", the NCP is exempt from paying cash medical support or contributing toward the cost of the coverage by the CP.
252E.1A(4)(b) The NCP does not have income which may be subject to income withholding for collection of cash medical support. Example, a NCP who is self-employed. If this section applies, the court shall order the NCP to provide a plan of coverage if a plan becomes available at a reasonable cos.
252E.1A(4)(c) The NCP is on Medicaid/Title 19 or has a child residing with him/her to whom a duty of support and the child is on Medicaid/Title 19 or hawk-i. If this section applies, the court shall order the NCP to provide a plan of coverage when a plan becomes available for which there is no premium cost.
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252E.1A Establishing and modifying orders — amended 10.01.2018
Click the link below.
252E Amended — Click Here.
252E.1A Establishing and modifying orders for medical support.
1. This section shall apply to all initial or modified orders for support entered under chapter 234, 252A, 252C, 252F, 252H, 598, 600B, or any other applicable chapter. If an action to establish or modify an order for support is initiated by the child support recovery unit, section 252E.1B shall also apply.
2. An order or judgment that provides for temporary or permanent support for a child shall include a provision for medical support for the child as provided in this section.
3. The court shall order as medical support for the child health care coverage if a health benefit plan other than public coverage is available to either parent at the time the order is entered or modified. A health benefit plan is available if the plan is accessible and the cost of the plan is reasonable.
a. The cost of a health benefit plan is considered reasonable, and such amount shall be stated in the order, if one of the following applies:
(1) The premium cost for a child to the parent ordered to provide coverage does not exceed five percent of that parent's gross income or the child support guidelines established pursuant to section 598.21B specifically provide an alternative income-based numeric standard for determining the reasonable cost of the premium, in which case the reasonable cost of the premium as determined by the standard specified by the child support guidelines shall apply.
(2) The premium cost for a child exceeds the amount specified in subparagraph (1) and that parent consents or does not object to entry of that order.
b. For purposes of this section, "family coverage" means coverage that covers multiple individuals and covers or could cover the child or children subject to the child support order.
c. For purposes of this section, "gross income" has the same meaning as gross income for calculation of support under the guidelines established under section 598.21B.
d. For purposes of this section, "the premium cost for a child to the parent" ordered to provide coverage means the amount of the premium cost for family coverage to the parent which is in excess of the premium cost for single coverage, regardless of the number of individuals covered under the plan.
4. If a health benefit plan other than public coverage is not available to either parent at the time of the entry of the order, and the custodial parent does not have public coverage for the child, the court shall order cash medical support in an amount which shall be stated in the order. This subsection shall not apply in any of the following circumstances:
a. If the parent's monthly support obligation established pursuant to the child support guidelines prescribed by the supreme court pursuant to section 598.21B is the minimum obligation amount. If this paragraph applies, the court shall order the parent to provide health care coverage when a plan becomes available for which there is no premium cost for a child to the parent.
b. If the noncustodial parent does not have income which may be subject to income withholding for collection of cash medical support at the time of the entry of the order. If this paragraph applies, the court shall order the noncustodial parent to provide health care coverage when a health benefit plan becomes available at a reasonable cost, and the order shall specify the amount of the reasonable cost as specified in subsection 3, paragraph "a", subparagraph (1).
c. If the noncustodial parent is receiving assistance or is residing with any child receiving assistance as provided in section 252E.2A, subsection 1, paragraph "c", subparagraph (3) or (4). If this paragraph applies, the court shall order the noncustodial parent to provide health care coverage when a health benefit plan becomes available for which there is no premium cost for a child to the parent.
5. If a health benefit plan other than public coverage is not available to either parent at the time of the entry of the order, and the custodial parent has public coverage for the child, the court shall order the custodial parent to provide health care coverage, and the court shall order the noncustodial parent to pay cash medical support, which amount shall be stated in the order, unless an exception under subsection 4 applies.
6. Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, the court may order provisions in the alternative to those provided in this section to address the health care needs of the child if the court determines that extreme circumstances so require and documents the court's written findings in the order.
7. An order, decree, or judgment entered before October 1, 2018, that provides for the support of a child may be modified in accordance with this section.
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