§ 19-11-29.Accident and sickness insurance coverage for children; liability and penalty applicable to person or entity providing access to coverage and insurers
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 1. Child Support Recovery Act · Last amended 2010 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-29
Plain-English Summary
This section puts teeth in the medical support rules. Subsection (a) reaches any person or entity providing access to accident and sickness coverage through the obligor’s employment or union. It is liable for a civil penalty of up to $1,000.00 per occurrence if it willfully fails to enroll a dependent promptly under an order of medical support or a notice of enrollment, and enrollment season restrictions are no excuse. There is no liability, though, when the employer or plan acts in accordance with the step-by-step procedures in subsection (g) of § 19-11-27.
Subsection (b) addresses insurers directly. When a child is being enrolled under subsection (a) — that is, under an order of medical support or a notice of enrollment — they shall not deny the child enrollment in a parent’s health coverage on the ground that the child was born out of wedlock, isn’t claimed as a dependent on the parent’s federal income tax return, or doesn’t live with the parent or in the insurer’s service area. All three objections are off the table.
Subsection (c) protects coverage once it’s in place. The entity providing access faces the same penalty of up to $1,000.00 per occurrence if the obligor disenrolls the child or the child’s coverage is eliminated, unless the obligor provides written proof that the child has been or will be enrolled in comparable coverage taking effect no later than the disenrollment date. There is no liability when the entity acts in accordance with § 19-11-26(d), which sets when a medical support order ends. Under subsection (d), the department may recover any penalty by civil action or through any other remedy for enforcing court orders. The section was last amended in 2010.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my child’s other parent drop our child from his or her health insurance in Georgia?
Not without consequences for the coverage provider. This section puts the penalty on the employer or other entity providing access, not on the parent. If the obligor disenrolls the child, or the child’s coverage is eliminated, without written proof of comparable coverage taking effect by the disenrollment date, the employer or other entity providing access faces a civil penalty of up to $1,000.00 per occurrence. No penalty applies where the entity acts in accordance with § 19-11-26(d), which sets when a medical support order ends.
Can an insurer refuse to cover my child because we don’t live in its service area?
Not when the child is being enrolled under a medical support order or notice of enrollment. In that setting, insurers shall not deny enrollment of a child in a parent’s health coverage on the ground that the child doesn’t reside with the parent or in the insurer’s service area. The same rule bars denial because the child was born out of wedlock or isn’t claimed as a dependent on the parent’s federal income tax return.
Can my child be enrolled outside open enrollment under a medical support order?
Yes. The penalty for willfully failing to enroll a dependent promptly applies “without regard to enrollment season restrictions.” So an employer or other entity providing access can’t wait for an open enrollment period to add a child under an order of medical support or a notice of enrollment, unless it is following the procedures in § 19-11-27(g).
Who collects the penalty when an employer fails to enroll a child?
The Department of Human Services. The department may recover the civil penalty by civil action or through any other remedy available for enforcing court orders. The penalty runs up to $1,000.00 per occurrence for each willful failure to enroll promptly, or for each disenrollment or elimination of the child’s coverage without proof of comparable coverage.
Does my child have to be claimed on my taxes to get coverage under my health plan?
Not for enrollment under a medical support order or notice of enrollment. In that setting, insurers shall not deny a child’s enrollment in a parent’s health coverage on the ground that the child isn’t claimed as a dependent on the parent’s federal income tax return. The section bars two other grounds as well: that the child was born out of wedlock, and that the child doesn’t live with the parent or in the insurer’s service area.
Amendment History
Laws 1994, p. 1728, § 4; Laws 2002, p. 1247, § 9; Laws 2010, Act 410, § 6, eff. July 1, 2010.