[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 9]
[Revised as of July 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR2590.609-2]

[Page 577-578]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
CHAPTER XXV--PENSION AND WELFARE BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
                                  LABOR
 
PART 2590--RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR GROUP HEALTH PLAN REQUIREMENTS--Table of Contents
 
   Subpart A--Continuation Coverage, Qualified Medical Child Support 
                  Orders, Coverage for Adopted Children
 
Sec. 2590.609-2  National Medical Support Notice.

    (a) This section promulgates the National Medical Support Notice 
(the Notice), as mandated by section 401(b) of the Child Support 
Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-200). If the Notice 
is appropriately completed and satisfies paragraphs (3) and (4) of 
section 609(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 
the Notice is deemed to be a qualified medical child support order 
(QMCSO) pursuant to ERISA section 609(a)(5)(C). Section 609(a) of ERISA 
delineates the rights and obligations of the alternate recipient 
(child), the participant, and the group health plan under a QMCSO. A 
copy of the Notice is available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/
dol/pwba.
    (b) For purposes of this section, a plan administrator shall find 
that a Notice is appropriately completed if it contains the name of an 
Issuing Agency, the name and mailing address (if any) of an employee who 
is a participant under the plan, the name and mailing address of one or 
more alternate recipient(s) (child(ren) of the participant) (or the name 
and address of a substituted official or agency which has been 
substituted for the mailing address of the alternate recipient(s)), and 
identifies an underlying child support order.
    (c)(1) Under section 609(a)(3)(A) of ERISA, in order to be 
qualified, a medical child support order must clearly specify the name 
and the last known mailing address (if any) of the participant and the 
name and mailing address of each alternate recipient covered by the 
order, except that, to the extent

[[Page 578]]

provided in the order, the name and mailing address of an official of a 
State or a political subdivision thereof may be substituted for the 
mailing address of any such alternate recipient. Section 609(a)(3)(B) of 
ERISA requires a reasonable description of the type of coverage to be 
provided to each such alternate recipient, or the manner in which such 
type of coverage is to be determined. Section 609(a)(3)(C) of ERISA 
requires that the order specify the period to which such order applies.
    (2) The Notice satisfies ERISA section 609(a)(3)(A) by including the 
necessary identifying information described in Sec. 2590.609-2(b).
    (3) The Notice satisfies ERISA section 609(a)(3)(B) by having the 
Issuing Agency identify either the specific type of coverage or all 
available group health coverage. If an employer receives a Notice that 
does not designate either specific type(s) of coverage or all available 
coverage, the employer and plan administrator should assume that all are 
designated. The Notice further satisfies ERISA section 609(a)(3)(B) by 
instructing the plan administrator that if a group health plan has 
multiple options and the participant is not enrolled, the Issuing Agency 
will make a selection after the Notice is qualified, and, if the Issuing 
Agency does not respond within 20 days, the child will be enrolled under 
the plan's default option (if any).
    (4) Section 609(a)(3)(C) of ERISA is satisfied because the Notice 
specifies that the period of coverage may only end for the alternate 
recipient(s) when similarly situated dependents are no longer eligible 
for coverage under the terms of the plan, or upon the occurrence of 
certain specified events.
    (d)(1) Under ERISA section 609(a)(4), a qualified medical child 
support order may not require a plan to provide any type or form of 
benefit, or any option, not otherwise provided under the plan, except to 
the extent necessary to meet the requirements of a law relating to 
medical child support described in section 1908 of the Social Security 
Act, 42 U.S.C. 1396g-1.
    (2) The Notice satisfies the conditions of ERISA section 609(a)(4) 
because it requires the plan to provide to an alternate recipient only 
those benefits that the plan provides to any dependent of a participant 
who is enrolled in the plan, and any other benefits that are necessary 
to meet the requirements of a State law described in such section 1908.
    (e) For the purposes of this section, an ``Issuing Agency'' is a 
State agency that administers the child support enforcement program 
under Part D of Title IV of the Social Security Act.

[65 FR 82142, Dec. 27, 2000]