1 TAC §§55.601 - 55.606
The Office of the Attorney General adopts new Subchapter
M, Intercept of Insurance Claims, §§55.601 - 55.606, with changes,
due to grammatic and typographical errors, to the proposed text as published
in the February 7, 2003, issue of the
Texas Register
(28 TexReg 1031).
The new sections address Intercept of Insurance Claims.
Section 55.601 tasks the Office of the Attorney General with establishing,
by rule, a pilot program.
Section 55.602 explains how the Child Support Lien Network is setup.
Section 55.603 explains the process for data matches.
Section 55.604 explains how to register for access to the database.
Section 55.605 explains protection for the insurance companies.
Section 55.606 explains Title IV-D confidentiality and security.
No comments have been received regarding the new sections.
The new rules are adopted under Texas Family Code §231.015.
The new sections are adopted under the authority of Texas Family Code §231.015,
which is affected by Federal law (42 USC 666).
§55.601.Scope.
Section 231.015 of the Family Code tasks the Child Support Division
of the Office of the Attorney General, in consultation with the Texas Department
of Insurance and representatives of the insurance industry, with establishing
by rule a pilot program whereby insurance companies may voluntarily cooperate
with the Child Support Division in matching the names of those individuals
who are or may be due liability insurance settlements or awards with the names
of obligors who owe past-due child support. When such an individual is identified,
the Child Support Division will file a child support lien on the pending settlement
or award to secure the payment of past-due support. This subchapter explains
how the matching process and the lien process work.
§55.602.Child Support Lien Network.
The Office of the Attorney General has joined the Child Support Lien
Network (CSLN), a consortium of State child support enforcement agencies headed
by the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Each of the participating
States provides CSLN with a periodically updated list of its child support
obligors. CSLN provides participating insurance companies with two methods
of matching a pending settlement or award: an automatic data match, or an
interactive lookup. The automatic data match is preferred because insurance
companies need only take action on those claims that electronically match
to a child support obligor.
§55.603.Automated Data Match.
(a)
An insurance company can conduct an automatic electronic
interface of its pending claims against the list of child support obligors
through Insurance Service Office (ISO). ISO is an industry service provider,
headquartered in New Jersey, which maintains a claim search system to assist
subscribing insurance companies in fraud detection.
(b)
An insurance company desiring to participate in the automatic
data matching process must give ISO permission to match its claim data with
CSLN. ISO may be contacted at (800) 877-4476 or by email at njsupport@iso.com.
(c)
CSLN matches its list of child support obligors daily against
the ISO claim data.
(d)
A participating insurance company will receive a notice
of child support lien (or wage withholding instrument for a workers' compensation
claim) only on those claims that the company has registered with ISO and that
match the name of an obligor who owes past-due child support. This allows
the insurance company to focus work efforts on only those claimants that actually
require child support enforcement activity.
§55.604.Interactive Lookup.
(a)
An insurance company may choose to check the name of an
individual insurance claimant to see if there are outstanding child support
obligations by accessing the CSLN database of child support obligors.
(b)
To register for access to this database, a company must:
(1)
go to the Office of the Attorney General's child support
lien web page at http://www.childsupportliens.com/TX/;
(2)
click on the ARegister@ label in the left margin and complete
and electronically submit the registration form; and
(3)
print, sign and fax to CSLN at 888-430-6907 a copy of the
confidentiality statement.
(c)
Once the insurance company registration information has
been reviewed and the signed confidentiality statement has been received,
secure access to the database of child support obligors will be approved.
The company will be notified via e-mail of access approval. This notice will
include the user ID that has been assigned, the web site address, and basic
instructions.
(d)
Insurance companies are encouraged to query the CSLN database
of child support obligors as early as possible in the claims process, but
not later than 30 days before a claim settlement, if possible.
(e)
The insurance company receives immediate notification of
the status of the match.
(1)
If there is no match, the insurance company is informed.
(2)
If there is a positive match, the insurance company is
informed and provided the basic match data.
(3)
If there are multiple possible matches within one state,
the insurance company is asked to call CSLN to identify the correct obligor.
(4)
If there are multiple possible matches within more than
one state, the insurance company is notified that CSLN will work with the
insurance company and the affected states to determine the appropriate course
of action.
(f)
When an interactive match occurs, CSLN notifies the State
child support enforcement agency of a match. The State child support agency
will send a notice of child support lien (or, in the case of a worker's compensation
claim, a wage withholding instrument) to the company.
§55.605.Protection from Liability of Insurance Company for Disclosure of Information.
(a)
An insurance company that provides information or otherwise
responds to a notice of child support lien or levy under Subchapter G, Chapter
157, or acts in good faith to comply with procedures established in the pilot
program under this section 231.015 is not liable for those acts under any
law to any person.
(b)
The federal Social Security Act (42 USC 666(a)(17)(C)(ii))
provides that a financial institution shall not be liable under any federal
or state law to any person for encumbering or surrendering any assets it holds
in response to a notice of lien or levy issued by the state child support
enforcement agency.
§55.606.Confidentiality and Security.
(a)
The Title IV-D agency shall consider any information received
from an insurance company as confidential. Such information shall be used
or disclosed by the Child Support Division only for the purpose of collecting
past-due child support or for other purposes as enumerated in subsection (c)
of Family Code §231.108.
(b)
In accordance with section 453 of the federal Social Security
Act, any information provided by the Child Support Division to an insurance
company, or its designated agent, for the purpose of conducting a data match
may not be used by the institution or its agent for any other purpose and
may not be disclosed to any person except to the extent necessary to conduct
the data match. The insurance company or its agent shall destroy or erase
all information provided to the company after completion of a data match.
This subsection does not apply to data contained in a child support lien or
other encumbering instrument received from the Child Support Division after
the data match process.
This agency hereby certifies that the adoption has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal authority.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State on May 21, 2003.
TRD-200303182
Nancy S. Fuller
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Effective date: June 10, 2003
Proposal publication date: February 7, 2003
For information regarding this publication, please
call A.G. Younger, Agency Liaison, at (512) 463-2110