Can you request reimbursement for medical costs?

Non-custodial parents don’t just have to pay child support for their kids’ everyday needs. They may also have to provide funds to cover medical costs that were not reimbursed or covered by insurance.

These can include:

— Deductibles

— Co-pays

— Prescription medications

— Other dental, vision or medical costs that stem from medically-necessary procedures.

Otherwise known as “extraordinary” medical expenses, these out-of-pocket fees and charges exceed the price of basic health care that may be included under the health insurance coverage for the child.

When requesting reimbursement for uninsured medical expenses, the parent seeking the additional monies should request the repayment from their child’s other parent within a reasonable time frame from the date the costs were incurred.

Below are a few tips for those parents trying to get reimbursed for extraordinary medical expenses:

— Keep all original receipts and bills. Mail your ex copies.

— Use an informal approach first.

— Make sure that you provide timely notice to the other parent for reimbursement.

A good way to ensure that custodial parents will get reimbursed for these costs is to have your family law attorney include in the child support order the percentage of unreimbursed and uninsured medical expenses each parent will be responsible for paying.

If this is not included initially, the court may require that a child support modification be filed before allowing one parent to collect a portion of these costs from the other.

Source: FindLaw, “Uninsured Medical Expenses and Child Support,” accessed Dec. 16, 2016