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MEDICAL SERVICES POLICY MANUAL,SECTION F

F 100 Non Financial Eligibility Requirements

OCSE must provide all appropriate services to Health Care applicants and recipients without the OCSE application or fee. The OCSE agency is required to petition for medical support when health insurance is available to the absent parent at a reasonable cost. OCSE will also collect child support payments from the absent parent unless OCSE is notified by the recipient in writing that this service is not needed. Child support payments collected on behalf of Health Care recipients are received and distributed to the custodial parent through the OCSE Clearinghouse. However, no recovery cost will be collected.

1. Referrals When a child’s parent, guardian, or caretaker relative voluntarily requests a referral to be made, or is receiving Health Care, an OCSE referral will be made at initial approval. Refer to Exception and Note below. Act 1091 of 1995, amended by Act 1296 of 1997, requires that both parents sign an affidavit acknowledging paternity, or obtain a court order, before the father’s name will be added to the birth certificate. NOTE: If the father’s name is included on the birth certificate of a child born April 10, 1995, or later, paternity has already been established. As paternity establishment is the only service the Office of Child Support Enforcement can offer to a family when both parents are in the home, there is no need to make a referral in these instances. NOTE: For child-only cases, cooperation with OCSE is voluntary. The only time that a referral to OCSE is necessary is when a parent, guardian, or caretaker relative is eligible in another Health Care eligibility group in which cooperation with OCSE is mandatory. Cooperation with OCSE will be strictly voluntary when a: • Parent, guardian, or caretaker relative is not receiving Health Care, but the children are receiving Health Care; • Parent, guardian, or caretaker relative is the only one receiving Health Care and the children are not receiving Health Care; or • Parent, guardian, or caretaker relative is receiving Health Care in an exempt category. A parent is considered to be absent for Health Care purposes when the absence is due to divorce, separation, incarceration, institutionalization, participation in a Rehabilitation Service Program away from home, or military service. These considerations are regardless of support, maintenance, physical care, guidance, or frequency of contact.