2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 40 - Domestic Affairs › Article 4C - Mandatory Medical Support › Section 40-4C-3 - Definitions.

As used in the Mandatory Medical Support Act:
A. "carrier" means an entity that offers, delivers or administers an employment-related or other group health care coverage plan, a health maintenance organization, a nonprofit health care plan or other type of health care coverage plan under which medical or dental services are provided, regardless of service delivery mechanism;
B. "cash medical support" means an amount ordered to be paid toward the cost of health care coverage provided by another parent through employment or otherwise, or for other medical costs not covered by health care coverage;
C. "court" means any district court ordering support by a medical support obligor;
D. "department" means the human services department [health care authority department];
E. "employer" means an individual, organization, agency, business or corporation hiring a medical support obligor for pay;
F. "gross income" means income from any source and includes income from salaries, wages, tips, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits, workers' compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, significant in-kind benefits that reduce personal living expenses, prizes and alimony or maintenance received; provided that:
(1) "gross income" does not include benefits received from:
(a) means-tested public assistance programs, including temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income and general assistance;
(b) the earnings or public assistance benefits of a child who is the subject of a child support award; or
(c) child support received by a parent for the support of other children;
(2) for income from self-employment, rent, royalties, proprietorship of a business or joint ownership of a partnership or closely held corporation, "gross income" means gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary expenses required to produce such income, but ordinary and necessary expenses do not include expenses determined by the court to be inappropriate for purposes of calculating child support;
(3) "gross income" does not include the amount of alimony payments actually paid in compliance with a court order;
(4) "gross income" does not include the amount of child support actually paid by a parent in compliance with a court order for the support of prior children; and
(5) "gross income" does not include a reasonable amount for a parent's obligation to support prior children who are in that parent's custody. A duty to support subsequent children is not ordinarily a basis for reducing support owed to children of the parties but may be a defense to a child support increase for the children of the parties. In raising such a defense, a party may use Table A as set forth in Subsection M of Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA 1978 to calculate the support for the subsequent children;
G. "health care coverage" means fee-for-service, health maintenance organization, preferred provider organization and other types of private health insurance and public health care coverage under which medical services may be provided to minor children;
H. "medical support obligee" means a person to whom a duty of medical support is owed or a person who has commenced a proceeding for enforcement of a duty to provide health support for each minor child or for registration of a support order that includes a provision for such support for each minor child;
I. "medical support obligor" means a person owing a duty to provide medical support or against whom a proceeding for the enforcement of such a duty of support is commenced or for registration of a support order that includes provisions for such support for each minor child;
J. "minor child" means a child younger than eighteen years of age who has not been emancipated; and
K. "national medical support notice" means a notice to an employer that an employee's child must be covered by the employment-related group health and dental care coverage plan pursuant to a court order.
History:
Laws 1990, ch. 78, § 3; 1994, ch. 76, § 4; 2003, ch. 287, § 3; 2007, ch. 165, § 3; 2009, ch. 32, § 2; 2021, ch. 20, § 6; 2023, ch. 107, § 1.
ANNOTATIONS
Bracketed material.
— The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law. Laws 2023, ch. 205, § 16 provided that references to the human services department shall be deemed to be references to the health care authority department.
Cross references.
— For Title 19 of the federal Social Security Act,
see
42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.
Laws 2023, ch. 107, § 1,
effective June 16, 2023, revised the definitions of "case medical support," "medical support obligee" and "medical support obligor"; in Subsection B, after "coverage provided by", deleted "a public entity or by"; in Subsection H, after "owed or a person", deleted "including the department"; and in Subsection I, after "duty to provide", deleted "health" and added "medical".
The 2021 amendment,
effective July 1, 2021, defined "carrier", "gross income", and "health care coverage", as used in the Mandatory Medical Support Act, and changed former references to "health insurance" to "health care coverage"; substituted each occurrence of "health insurance" with "health care coverage" throughout; added a new Subsection A and redesignated former Subsections A through D as Subsections B through E, respectively; added a new Subsection F and redesignated former Subsection E as Subsection G; in Subsection G, after "'health care coverage' means", deleted "those coverages generally associated with a medical plan of benefits, which may include dental insurance, but not including medicaid coverage authorized by Title 19 of the Social Security Act and administered by the department" and added "fee-for-service, health maintenance organization preferred provider organization and other types of private health insurance and public health care coverage under which medical services may be provided to minor children"; and deleted former Subsection F and redesignated former Subsections G through J as Subsections H through K, respectively.
The 2009 amendment,
effective June 19, 2009, added Subsection A.
The 2007 amendment,
effective June 15, 2007, added Subsections F and G and deleted former Subsections B, I and J, which defined "dental insurance coverage", "obligee" and "obligor".
The 2003 amendment,
effective April 8, 2003, deleted "human services" near the end of Subsection B; substituted "19" for "XIX" following "authorized by Title" in Subsections B and E; rewrote Subsection F; added present Subsection H; redesignated former Subsections H and I as Subsections I and J; and inserted "for" following "duty of support or" in Subsection J.
The 1994 amendment,
effective March 4, 1994, deleted "the child support enforcement division of" following "means" in Subsection C, deleted "human services" preceding "department" in Subsections E and H, added Subsection F, and redesignated former Subsections F to H as Subsections G to I.