Partnership with Employer Community Results in Child Support Program Success
The partnership between employers and the child support community ensures millions of families consistently receive child support. Every day, employers submit information about newly hired employees, implement income withholding orders and enroll children in health insurance plans. In federal fiscal year 2010, employers withheld over 67% of the child support collected and reported 47 million new hires.
Additional Opportunity for Employers to Help Families Receive Support
The federal Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) encourages employers that are self-funded or self-insured for workers’ compensation to participate in our insurance match program. In 2006, Congress passed legislation that authorizes OCSS to compare information concerning individuals owing past-due child support with information maintained by insurers (or their agents) concerning insurance claims, settlements, awards and payments. OCSS furnishes information resulting from the data matches to the state child support (CS) agencies responsible for collecting child support. The legislation also includes a non-liability provision for insurers participating in the data match with OCSS. As of October 2011, 24 of the 53 states and territories participating in OCSS’s insurance match program reported nearly $8 million in child support collections.
How Can Self-Insured Employers Participate in OCSS’s Insurance Match Program?
There are three options available to participate in the data match program:
If your company reports claims to the Insurance Services Office’s (ISO) Claim Search Database, participating in the OCSS insurance match program is as easy as 1-2-3!
- Notify ISO that your company would like to participate in the OCSS insurance match program
- ISO will match your company’s claims to the file of delinquent obligors provided by OCSS
- ISO returns the matches to OCSS to send to the state CS agency responsible for collecting child support
Matching Partner - OCSS will send a file containing information about individuals who owe past-due support to compare with your workers’ compensation claims and return matches to OCSS for distribution to the state CSE agency responsible for collecting the child support.
Claims Submitter - Send all workers’ compensation claims to OCSS to compare with individuals who owe past-due support and return matches to the state CS agency responsible for collecting child support.
Want More Information?
Contact Erica Holliman at 202-401-5730 or email insurancematch@acf.hhs.gov to obtain additional information about OCSS’s insurance match program.