[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 28 (Thursday, February 11, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6919-6920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-3388]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
Medical Child Support Working Group
AGENCY: Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee
Act (FACA), notice is given of the first meeting of the Medical Child
Support Working Group (MCSWG). The Medical Child Support Working Group
was jointly established by the Secretaries of the Department of Labor
(DOL) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under
section 401(a) of the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of
1998. The purpose of the MCSWG is to identify the impediments to the
effective enforcement of medical support by State child support
enforcement agencies, and to submit to the Secretaries of DOL and DHHS
a report containing recommendations for appropriate measures to address
those impediments.
DATES: The first meeting of the MCSWG will be held on Wednesday, March
3, 1999, from 3:00 p.m. to approximately 6:00 p.m.; on Thursday, March
4, 1999, from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 3:00 p.m.; and on Friday,
March 5, 1999, from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 12:00 noon.
ADDRESSES: The events of the first day of the Meeting (March 3, 1999),
will be held in the Snow Room, Room 5051, fifth floor, at the Wilbur
Cohen Building, 300 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C.; and the
events of March 4 and 5, 1999, will be held in Room 800, eighth floor
of the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Ave., SW,
Washington, D.C. All interested parties are invited to attend this
three day public meeting. Seating may be limited and will be available
on a first-come, first-serve basis. Persons needing special assistance,
such as sign language interpretation or other special accommodation,
should contact the Executive Director of the Medical Child Support
Working Group, Office of Child Support Enforcement at the address
listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Samara Weinstein, Executive
Director, Medical Child Support Working Group, Office of Child Support
Enforcement, Fourth Floor East, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW, Washington,
DC 20447 (telephone (202) 401-6953; fax (202) 401-5559; e-mail:
sweinstein@acf.dhhs.gov). These are not toll-free numbers. The date,
location and time for subsequent MCSWG meetings will be announced in
advance in the Federal Register.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 10(d) of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2) (FACA), notice
is given of the first meeting of the Medical Child Support Working
Group (MCSWG). The Medical Child Support Working Group was jointly
established by the Secretaries of the Department of Labor (DOL) and the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under section 401(a) of
the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-200).
The purpose of the MCSWG is to identify the impediments to the
effective enforcement of medical support by State child support
enforcement agencies, and to submit to the Secretaries of DOL and DHHS
a report containing recommendations for appropriate measures to address
those impediments. This report will include: (1) recommendations based
on assessments of the form and content of the National Medical Support
Notice, as issued under interim regulations; (2) appropriate measures
that establish the priority of withholding of child support
obligations, medical support obligations, arrearages in such
obligations, and in the case of a medical support obligation, the
employee's portion of any health care coverage premium, by such State
agencies in light of the restrictions on garnishment provided under
title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1671-1677);
(3) appropriate procedures for coordinating the provision, enforcement,
and transition of health care coverage under the State programs for
child support, Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Program; (4)
appropriate measures to improve the availability of alternate types of
medical support that are aside from health care coverage offered
through the noncustodial parent's health plan, and unrelated to the
noncustodial parent's employer, including measures that establish a
noncustodial parent's responsibility to share the cost of premiums, co-
payments, deductibles, or payments for services not covered under a
child's existing health coverage; (5) recommendations on whether
reasonable cost should remain a consideration under section 452(f) of
the Social Security Act ; and (6) appropriate measures for eliminating
any other impediments to the effective enforcement of medical support
orders that the MCSWG deems necessary.
The membership of the MCSWG was jointly appointed by the
Secretaries of DOL and DHHS, and includes representatives of: (1) DOL;
(2) DHHS; (3) State Child Support Enforcement Directors; (4) State
Medicaid Directors; (5) employers, including owners of small businesses
and their trade and industry representatives and certified human
resource and payroll professionals; (6) plan administrators and plan
sponsors of group health plans (as defined in section 607(1) of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1167(1));
(7) children potentially eligible for medical support, such as child
advocacy organizations; (8) State medical child support organizations;
and (9) organizations representing State child support programs.
Agenda: The agenda for this first meeting includes opening
ceremonies and orientation of the members (March 3), program briefings,
discussions (March 4), and business related to the operation of the
MCSWG (March 5).
Public Participation: Members of the public wishing to present oral
statements to the MSCWG should forward their requests to Samara
Weinstein, MCSWG Executive Director, as soon as possible and at least
four days before the meeting. Such request should be made by telephone,
fax machine, or mail, as shown above. Time permitting, the Chairs of
the MCSWG will attempt to accommodate all such requests by reserving
time for presentations. The order of persons making such presentations
will be assigned in the order in which the requests are received.
Members of the public are encouraged to limit oral statements to five
minutes, but extended written statements may be submitted for the
record. Members of the public also may submit written statements for
distribution to the MCSWG membership and inclusion in the public record
without presenting oral statements. Such written statements should be
sent to the MCSWG Executive Director, as shown above, by mail or fax at
least five business days before the meeting.
Minutes of all public meetings and other documents made available
to the MCSWG will be available for public inspection and copying at
both the DOL and DHHS. At DOL, these documents
[[Page 6920]]
will be available at the Public Documents Room, Pension and Welfare
Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-5638, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Any
written comments on the minutes should be directed to Ms. Samara
Weinstein, Executive Director of the Working Group, as shown above.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 5th day of February 1999.
Leslie Kramerich,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-3388 Filed 2-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P
