State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services

Release 26-03 August 12, 2026

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8.1 Medical Support

8.1.1 Medical Support Introduction

Medical Support refers to the obligation that a parent has to pay for his or her child’s medical care, either through the provision of health insurance coverage or direct payment of medical bills. The child support agency (CSA) is responsible for establishing Medical support orders for some children receiving Medicaid who have an absent parent. The CSA is also responsible for establishing paternity and establishing medical support obligations for unpaid and ongoing medical support (including recovery of birth costs.)

8.1.2 Recovery of Birth Costs

When the non marital father of the unborn child is not included in the Medicaid group at the initial eligibility determination he could be held responsible for repayment of birth costs.

8.1.3 Referral to Child Support Agencies

The income maintenance (IM) agency provides the CSA with information vital to opening medical support cases. The IM agency also supplies continuing information, which assists the CSA in providing medical support services.

For health care applications, new health care requests on existing cases, and person add requests that include minor children who have an absent parent, a referral is systematically sent to the CSA at the time health care eligibility is confirmed, with the exception of the situations listed in Section 8.2.2 Exemptions from Cooperation. Detailed questions about absent parents (such as, name, Social Security number, date of birth, or contact information) cannot be asked during the application process for health care-only applications. The referral will still be sent to the CSA, even if the absent parent’s name is unknown (see Process Help Section 10.2.1 Enter Absent Parent Information).

Note	A Referral to Child Support form (DCF-F-DWSP 3080) only needs to be completed when the Absent Parent page cannot be completed in CWWCARES Worker Web.

While IM agencies refer individuals receiving Medicaid or BadgerCare Plus to the CSA, the CSA determines which cases receive child support services. Not all Medicaid or BadgerCare Plus members qualify for free child support services and not all members are required to cooperate with the CSA.

The following individuals (including minors) for whom Medicaid is requested or being received, must be referred to the local CSA with the exceptions noted below:

1. A pregnant member who is unmarried or married and not living with their husband. However, pregnant members are not required to cooperate with the CSA during the pregnancy or the 12-month postpartum period (see BadgerCare Plus Handbook, Section 8.1 Pregnant Members). The member's eligibility for BadgerCare Plus will continue during this period, regardless of the member's cooperation.
   1. Exception: Pregnant members receiving the BadgerCare Plus Prenatal Benefit should not be referred to a CSA.
2. A child receiving SSI.Supplemental Security Income. A program based on financial need operated by the Social Security Administration that provides monthly income to low income people who are age 65 or older, blind, or disabled. Parents or caretaker relatives are not sanctioned if they do not cooperate with the CSA.
3. Non-marital co-parents when paternity has not been legally established, even when both parents are in the same home.
   1. Exception: Referrals are not made to the CSA when both parents are in the home and the father is on the child's birth certificate or the father's paternity has been legally established in another state by a court order or by a Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgement Form filed with a state agency.

4. Biological or adoptive parent(s) not living in the household.

   1. Exception: Referrals are not made to the CSA when the only reason a parent or stepparent is not in the home is because they are in the military.

5. Married biological parents in the home, but:
   1. Child was born prior to their marriage, and
   2. Paternity was not established by court action, or established after their marriage.

Referrals for the following individuals are not made to the local CSA:

• Former Foster Care Youth, unless the youth is also a parent of an eligible child in the household.
• People residing in domestic abuse shelters. The referral is sent to the CSA after the person moves out of the domestic abuse shelter. 

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The information concerning the Medicaid program provided in this handbook release is published in accordance with: Titles XI and XIX of the Social Security Act; Parts 430 through 481 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations; Chapters 46 and 49 of the Wisconsin Statutes; and Chapters HA 3, DHS 2, 10 and 101 through 109 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.

Notice: The content within this manual is the sole responsibility of the State of Wisconsin's Department of Health Services (DHS). This site will link to sites outside of DHS where appropriate. DHS is in no way responsible for the content of sites outside of DHS.

Publication Number: P-10030