Non-covered Medical expenses

[alissagail]

What is the name of your state? Texas

Hello...my husband is a non-custodial parent. He pays his child support and he has his son covered on his insurance provided by his employer. In the decree it states that he is to pay 1/2 of the non-covered expenses. It does state that the bills should be sent within a 10 day period. We are not sure if this means he has 10 days to pay...or she has 10 days to submit the bill. They have been divorced since 1999. a few months ago, she sent him a large package of medical bills dating bacy to 1999. This is the first that we knew about any of these bills. She then gave us 30 days to pay these bills or she would turn him over to the Texas Attorney General. The most current bill that she submitted in her package was over 30 days old. Will we have to pay all of these bills or is there a statute of limitations on something like this. If she would have presented us the bill even 30 days after she paid the bill, we would have gladly paid half...but she sit on this for 8 years until it was impossible to pay...in 30 days. What are our legal rights?

[Zephyr]

what is the exact wording of the court order regarding reimbursement? and does it specify reimbursement? does mom have proof she paid the bill?


and let's be honest here, dad provides insurance, dad get's the EOB...which also show the portion not paid..soooo he did know there were bills out there

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Does Texas have a statute of limitation on when you can ask the courts to force a reimbursement?

I ask because Michigan allows me ONE year to submit it to the courts. I am supposed to have them submitted to dad within 30 days.

Maybe someone from Texas could help with this one, PLEASE.

[alissagail]

Originally Posted by Zephyr

what is the exact wording of the court order regarding reimbursement? and does it specify reimbursement? does mom have proof she paid the bill?


and let's be honest here, dad provides insurance, dad get's the EOB...which also show the portion not paid..soooo he did know there were bills out there

I do not have the papers with me. I will bring them tomorrow. But yes, we did get some of the EOB...but not $10,000 worth. For some reason, the insurance is mailing this to her address. (I guess this is something that we should talk to our insurance about.) She even gets the insurance cards mailed directly to her as well. On the EOB's that we received, we paid. And have receipts for. But we did not receive EOB's for most of what she sent. I don't know why.
I was a single parent to my daughter and NEVER received any help...so, neither of us are upset about having to pay. But we do have a problem with her dog piling medical bills for 8 years...3 of which we had custody of the child due to her abandonment (how the judge gave her back custody is beyond me) But he was going to therapy during that time for anger and abandonment issues that we were paying for until she said that she would pay since we were still paying her child support and we had the child.

[Ohiogal]

Call her bluff and have her take him to court. The court would LAUGH at her.

[alissagail]

Originally Posted by Zephyr

what is the exact wording of the court order regarding reimbursement? and does it specify reimbursement? does mom have proof she paid the bill?


and let's be honest here, dad provides insurance, dad get's the EOB...which also show the portion not paid..soooo he did know there were bills out there

I am sorry that I didn't get back with you yesterday...I forgot the papers at home. here is exactly what the divorce decree says...

"It is further ordered and decreed that the party who paid for a health care expense on behalf of the child shall submit to the other party any and all forms receipts bills and statements reflecting the uninsured portion of the medical or healthcare expenses. The paying party incurs on behalf of the child within 10 days after he/she receives them. It is ordered and decreed that within 10 days after the non-paying party received the forms, receipts, bills or statements that party shall pay his/her 50% share of the uninsured portion of the medical or healthcare expenses. Either by paying the healthcare provider directly or by reimbursing the paying party for any advanced payment over and above the paying parties share of the expenses. "

It looks like to me that she had a 10 day window of opportunity to mail these medical bills in to us...even if it were 30 days...we would have paid it...but she held on to these bills for 8 years. Until it was impossible for us to pay in the 30 days that she demanded. I just don't want to go in to the TAG office and not know our rights. We went in to child custody having temporary custody and her signed papers giving my husband full custody...and walked out with her having full custody after 3 years of her abondonment. AND we had to pay back child support for the 3 years that we had him...not to mention that she never paid us child support.

[MrsK]

Originally Posted by alissagail

I am sorry that I didn't get back with you yesterday...I forgot the papers at home. here is exactly what the divorce decree says...

"It is further ordered and decreed that the party who paid for a health care expense on behalf of the child shall submit to the other party any and all forms receipts bills and statements reflecting the uninsured portion of the medical or healthcare expenses. The paying party incurs on behalf of the child within 10 days after he/she receives them. It is ordered and decreed that within 10 days after the non-paying party received the forms, receipts, bills or statements that party shall pay his/her 50% share of the uninsured portion of the medical or healthcare expenses. Either by paying the healthcare provider directly or by reimbursing the paying party for any advanced payment over and above the paying parties share of the expenses. "

It looks like to me that she had a 10 day window of opportunity to mail these medical bills in to us...even if it were 30 days...we would have paid it...but she held on to these bills for 8 years. Until it was impossible for us to pay in the 30 days that she demanded. I just don't want to go in to the TAG office and not know our rights. We went in to child custody having temporary custody and her signed papers giving my husband full custody...and walked out with her having full custody after 3 years of her abondonment. AND we had to pay back child support for the 3 years that we had him...not to mention that she never paid us child support.

I would agree, it sounds like she has 10 days to get them to you & your husband has 10 days to pay.

Dont pay for anything that she didnt give you within 10 days of receiving it. The decree is pretty clear.

[alissagail]

Thank you. Sometimes it takes writing it down to fully understand what the papers mean. After posting this and re-reading it...it made sense. When I got the papers out, and looked at the bills that she sent us...I could not belive some of the things that she was wanting us to pay. Our insurance pays for a full set a glasses every 2 years...as long as the frames are under $150. And she can get a second pair for $25...if needed. She sent us a bill for $336 for new glasses. She also sent us bills for over the counter medications...I thought that was what child support was supposed to be for. But I now will digress...Because I don't even want to start.

[Ohiogal]

OTC meds are to bought with child support NOT as medical expenses.

[alissagail]

Originally Posted by Ohiogal

OTC meds are to bought with child support NOT as medical expenses.

that is what I thought...but she presented us with over $100 in otc.

[Silverplum]

Originally Posted by alissagail

that is what I thought...but she presented us with over $100 in otc.

She's sounding pretty desperate.

If I were Dad, I'd write her a letter and cc his court file. Tell her she's SOL and why. Quote the court order.

[alissagail]

Thank you all for your help. This has really helped.

[alissagail]

Well, my husband was called in to the Attorney General's office on the 14th of this month to try and settle this. The clerk there said that he should have to pay all of the back medical bills. So, he was ordered to go to court on the 28th (tomorrow) to try and settle this. stating that he would be responsible for all of the court cost since he was the one that didn't agree to pay. That really didn't give him a lot of time to prepare...so they are going to call for a continuance. The lawyer says that we may get 1999 - 2006 waived...but may still have to pay for 2007. That would be great. We just want the madness to stop. And force her to do the right thing. Not wait for 8 years to pass and then decide to send us medical bills are too high to pay...and only give us 30 days to pay. Thanks for everyones help in this matter.

[Zephyr]

how much is she asking for?

[alissagail]

Originally Posted by Zephyr

how much is she asking for?

she is asking for about $5K.