H 4969 General Bill, By Hearn
 A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 63-17-2110, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
 RELATING TO CONTENTS OF COURT ORDERS REQUIRING A PARENT TO PROVIDE HEALTH
 COVERAGE FOR A CHILD, SO AS TO ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THE SOCIAL SECURITY
 NUMBER TO BE INCLUDED IN THE ORDER, TO CHANGE THE TERM "PARENT" TO
 "PARTICIPANT", AND TO CHANGE THE TERM "CHILD" TO "ALTERNATE RECIPIENT"; AND TO
 AMEND SECTION 43-5-220, RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
 ESTABLISHING A SCALE FOR SUGGESTED MINIMUM CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CHILD SUPPORT
 PAYMENTS FROM ABSENT PARENTS, SO AS TO DELETE LANGUAGE THAT PROVIDES THAT THE
 USE OF THE CHILD SUPPORT SCALE IS OPTIONAL AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

   03/08/12  House  Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 17)
   03/08/12  House  Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and
                     Industry (House Journal-page 17)
   03/21/12  House  Recalled from Committee on Labor, Commerce and
                     Industry (House Journal-page 27)
   03/21/12  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary
                     (House Journal-page 27)

TO AMEND SECTION 63-17-2110, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO CONTENTS OF COURT ORDERS REQUIRING A PARENT TO PROVIDE HEALTH COVERAGE FOR A CHILD, SO AS TO ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER TO BE INCLUDED IN THE ORDER, TO CHANGE THE TERM "PARENT" TO "PARTICIPANT", AND TO CHANGE THE TERM "CHILD" TO "ALTERNATE RECIPIENT"; AND TO AMEND SECTION 43-5-220, RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES ESTABLISHING A SCALE FOR SUGGESTED MINIMUM CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS FROM ABSENT PARENTS, SO AS TO DELETE LANGUAGE THAT PROVIDES THAT THE USE OF THE CHILD SUPPORT SCALE IS OPTIONAL AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 63-17-2110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 63-17-2110.    To be enforced pursuant to this article, a court order which that requires a parent to provide health coverage for a child must:

(1)    clearly specify:

(a)    the name, social security number, and last known mailing address, if any, of the parent participant and the name, social security number, date of birth, and mailing address of each child alternate recipient covered by the order;

(b)    a reasonable description of the type of coverage to be provided by the plan to each child alternate recipient or the manner in which the type of coverage is to be determined;

(c)    the period to which the order applies; and

(d) each plan to which the order applies; and

(2)    not require a plan to provide a type or form of benefit or an option, not otherwise provided under the plan, except to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of this article."

SECTION    2.    Section 43-5-220(b) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(b)    As required by Section 43-5-580, the department shall establish a scale of guidelines for suggested minimum contributions to assist courts in determining the amount that an absent parent should be expected to pay toward the support of a dependent child. The scale shall guidelines must include consideration of gross income, shall must authorize expense deductions, including deductions for taxes for determining net income, shall must designate other available resources to be considered, and shall must specify the circumstances which that should be considered in reducing liability on the basis of hardship. Copies of this scale shall these guidelines must be made available to courts, county attorneys, circuit solicitors, and to the public. It is intended that the scale formulated pursuant to this section be optional, and that no court or support official be required to use it."

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.