Statutes: South Dakota

The court shall enter an order addressing how the child’s health care needs will be met by medical support. The medical support order must include a provision for medical insurance if the insurance is accessible for the child and available to a parent at reasonable cost. Enrollment in public health coverage does not satisfy the medical support obligation if medical insurance is available to one or both of the parents at a reasonable cost and is accessible for the child. Medical insurance is considered accessible if a medical insurance benefit plan is available and provides coverage for the child residing within the geographic area covered by the insurance policy. Medical insurance is considered reasonable in cost if the cost attributable to the child is equal to or less than eight percent of the parent’s net income as determined under this chapter, after proportionate medical support credit is applied, and the amount must be specified in the order for support.

The cost of the insurance attributable to the child is the cost of adding the child to existing coverage, the cost of private medical insurance for the child, or the cost attributable to the child under family coverage. The cost attributable to the child under family coverage is the cost to the parent to obtain family coverage divided by the number of individuals enrolled in the family coverage. The cost so computed must be apportioned between the parents on the basis of income or income imputed as provided in this chapter. If one parent pays the entire amount, that parent shall either be reimbursed by the other parent for that parent’s portion of the payment or shall receive a credit against the support obligation, whichever is appropriate. Any additional, reasonable health care costs, including medical, optometric, dental or orthodontic, or counseling costs for each minor child that exceed two hundred fifty dollars in any year and are not covered by insurance, must be apportioned between the parents in proportion to the support obligation of each parent. The parent that has primary physical custody of the child is responsible for the first two hundred fifty dollars of health care costs each calendar year.