CHECK YOUR STATE LAWS!
It differs by state who is liable, in some states it is the legal guardian of the insured child.
In New York and Wisconsin it is the person who hold the insurance.

SO in New York and Wisconsin, if Stepmom has the insurance on the kids, and BM takes them to the doctor, and BM changes the address on file, then the bill is sent to BM's address.
If BM NEVER pays the bills, then they will come after YOU for the money. AND if BM changes the phone number on file at the Md's office to her phone number, the bill, collections and collections calls will all go to BM! who can ignore and ignore and ignore till your credit is RUINED!

BE CAREFUL FELLOW STEP MOMS.
COVERING YOUR KIDS INSURANCE COULD COST YOU YOUR CREDIT RATING!

That's why I refused to even consider it!

This should be 100% covered by the separation or custody order.

In our case, my DH was responsible for having the kids covered by insurance and all out of pocket expenses were to be split 50/50.

I also have good insurance with my company and DH being self employed doesn't have good coverage options, so they are on my policy.

It generally turned out that we would pay almost 100% of out of pocket because BM is irresponsible and doesn't work regularly and never had her share.

Sucked, but that's what happened in our case and we just felt going to court would have been another whole can of worms and it was easier to just pay more.

In my DH and BM's custody order money is not addressed at all. No child support and no medical expenses because at the time he was 1 and no one thought to plan ahead for the future (like braces etc). BM likes to use this to her advantage and refuses to pay for anything when it best suits her (like when she is trying to blackmail DH into giving into her demands). Because we have SS during the week, I usually take him to the doctor and dentist appointments. We pay the co-pay and DH has SS on his medical. Last year BM wanted SS to go see a dermatologist for eczema (she didnt believe DH when he told her that is what he had) so she offered to pay half of the co-pay if I would take him. She also wanted him to get fillings for two teeth that the dentist said weren't bad enough but could potentially get worse if SS didn't slow down on the juice. DH sent her half of the bill (he only drinks water and little powerade at football practice over here so it seemed fair). DH told her she had to pay her half either to the dentist office or in check to him before the date of procedure or it wouldn't happen. If BM takes SS to the emergency room or to the doctor during the summer during one of her weeks then she is responsible for paying for the co-pay and any prescriptions he needs as we always do the same when he falls sick on our time. They didn't agree to this but DH has made it pretty clear she will be responsible for running him to the doctor's for any little thing. Keep receipts for everything and always email BM notifying her of her half owed so she can't say she didn't know about it.

Medical coverage is not addressed in DH's CO either, but just that the costs must be worked out b/t the two parties. So far, so good. Until this year when DH's job status changed and he's been hired as a consultant/free agent and the employer doesn't provide insurance.

We added the SDs to my plan two years ago due to an unexpected situation and it was only a couple months.

SDs have now been on my plan for the second time for 4 months with no end in sight. DH now owes me premium costs for those four months (and he'll make it good) and the costs are adding up. I told DH that I want the SDs off my plan because I'm tired of paying the premiums out of my paycheck. He needs to find out when BM's open enrollment period is, or if/when he's eligible. Because if I add the SDs on my plan, and I'm not the prime parent, I have to sign a document certifying that if a parent, or DH, becomes eligible to add persons (i.e. their open enrollment period) the SDs/DH must come off my plan.

If they don't do this, and the insurance company finds out, I could be liable for reimbursing my employer for those payments, in full. So no, I'm all over DH to find out when BM's open enrollment is and if he is going to qualify himself - if possible.

I won't do this again and DH knows it. He and BM have to figure it out.
At least BM pays her bills. She and DH just have it good right now and I'm PO'd about it.

What would happen if you take it up with the primary service providers? If DH brings the kids in they bill him...
If BM brings the kids in they bill her - if she does not pay it's got nothing to do with you and DH? BM is not allowed to add any medical expenses to your bill....

If medical coverage is not part of the CO, then I would simply tell BM.... if you refuse to pay your share, I will simply take the kids of my cover..... then you and DH can pay a fortune for medical, I'm the SM not the parent it's not my responsibility to cover your kids.

Time for a revision to the CO. Ours was very clear. DickHead was responsible for providing health insurance for the Skid. DickHead's CS was increased by half of the cost of covering SS for med insurance if DickHead failed to provide adequate coverage. Since DickHead never did that I covered the Skid as EE+Family on my employer provided medical insurance.

He did add SS to his coverage at about year 10 of our CO and took us to court to try to get his CS lowered since he was providing insurance. His policy was so bad that the judge just laughed at him and told him that 10 years was too long to wait for him to step up and that the coverage he provided was so poor that DickHead would have to continue to pay for half of the cost of the coverage I provided whether DickHead provided coverage or not.

Our CO stipulated that any medical expenses not covered by insurance was to be split 50/50 by my bride and the SpermIdiot. This included doctor and Rx copays, any uncovered dental work, eye care/Glasses/Contacts, etc......

Over the 16+ years we lived under a CO the SpermIdiot accrued ~$6K in liability to us for his share of the Skid's uncovered med related expenses. We never saw a dime. We still invoice him twice a year and apply penalties and interest to his balance so he is now pushing ~$11K due to failure to live up to his obligation. We took the issue to family law court and were told it was not an issue for that venue even though he was in violation of the Custody/Visitation/Support CO. That judge referred us to the civil courts initially to small claims before the balance was as high as it is now.

We get about one begging call a year from SpermGrandHag for us to leave the DipShitIot alone but ... }:) }:) }:) we get a lot of entertainment value out of bending that idiot over. Our answer to her calls is "Have your son settle his debt and obligation to care for his son." SpermGrandHag then goes into the whining and crying about how unfair it is and how the two still minor SpermIdiot Spawned half sibs by baby mama #3 will suffer if DipShitIot has to pay his debt. We then remind her of the incident when SS was in SpermLand on visitation and got a rusty fish hook stuck in his leg while swimming in a lake and she refused to get him to a doctor for a Tetanus shot. We told her that she either took him immediatly for treatment or we would have a helicopter pick the Skid up and transport him for care and she woulg pay for it. She bitched and moaned but loaded the kid up and drove him several hours to the ER in her home town. In an act of revenge she named me as the responsible party since the insurance was in my name. After reminding her of taht crap we tell her if she wants to end the liability to write us a check since she and SpermGrandPa were the ones that paid their idiot son's CS liability and for visitation travel for the entire duration of the CO and had set the precendent of being responsible for DipShitIots spawning related liabilities. Then we threaten to initiate collections through court and name her along side of teh SpermIdiot. She shuts up for another year at that point.

The Skid (now adopted) knows about the situation and knows that if the SpermIdiot ever steps up and pays his obligation that the money will go into the Skid's USAA IRA. The Skid does not really care. He minimizes anything to do with the SpermClan adn though he laughs about his SpermIdiot's pathetic waste of skin status he would really rather have it all fade into the past.

It appears that his mom and I raised him to be a far better person than she and I are since he did not develop the vindictive streak we both have and enjoy when it comes to rubbing the SpermClan's noses in their pathetic excuse for lives. :? }:)

You may not be successful in getter BM to pay (we have not been with the SpermClan) but having the CO ammended to clearly spell out her liability for paying for part of the insurance premium and half of any Skid medical expenses not covered by insurance will give you a decent stick to beat her with going forward if she does not step up.

Have fun!!!! }:)