Rhode Island § 15-29-3 - Medical Support

§ 15-29-3. Duty of employer to respond to medical notices.

(a) The medical notice shall instruct the employer into which health care plans the children shall be enrolled and include all identifying information of the child support case. The medical notice shall comply in all respects with federal requirements.

(b) The employer must respond, within twenty (20) business days after the date of the medical notice, or sooner, if reasonable, indicating:

(1) That the employer does not maintain or contribute to plans providing dependant or family care coverage;

(2) That the employee is among a class of employees that are not eligible for family health care coverage under any group health plan maintained by the employee;

(3) That health care is not available because the employee is no longer employed; or

(4) That state or federal withholding limitations and/or prioritization prevent the withholding from the employee’s income of the amount required to obtain coverage.

(c) If family health care coverage is available, the employer is required to transfer the appropriate part of the medical notice to the plan administrator of each appropriate group health plan for which the children may be eligible.

(d) Upon notification from the plan administrator that the children are enrolled, the employer must either:

(1) Withhold from the employees income any contributions required within the limitations outlined in § 15-29-4 and transfer the contribution to the plan administrator; or

(2) Complete the appropriate employee response portion of the notice and advise the child support agency that enrollment cannot be completed because of prioritization or limitations on additional withholding of income.

(e) If there is a waiting period for enrollment based upon number of hours worked or passage of time, the employer must notify the plan administrator when the condition is met.