One more reason to hate the CS system

[ManicAttack]

I was in the hospital a few weeks ago. I had a two day stay and just got all the bills. They wanted me to apply for assistance since I do not have insurance. I am not married and do not make that much as a single person. I would qualify for food assistance as of right now, since I am not working as much as I do during the summer. It's the slow season for our vacation town and I work at a hotel.

Anyway. I open a letter and it says my application was received. I need to provide proof of my income and federal tax returns for this year, which haven't even been accepted yet. THEN, it tells me I also need to provide SO's proof of income and HIS tax return info!

This is the real kicker. It says to list any outgoing payments made every month. So, we did. And at the bottom it asks if any children are in the household. They share custody, but BM gets to claim SS. Then it says CS cannot be listed as outgoing payment.

Then why the hell do people get to claim their children? Basically what they are saying is, You don't have a child and that CS is actually a part of your income and is in your household. But, the parent receiving CS doesn't have to claim CS and ALSO gets the right to say they pay for another mouth to feed BUT THEY DON'T GET HELP DOING SO, since CS is never included in their income.

I can't be put on SO's insurance but the state can say he is responsible for my hospital bills. Such bullshit.

[luckystars2012]

This.

Quoting JacyB:

How the hell is he responsible for your hospital bills? Sorry honey, but if youre not married, hes not responsible. You need to go in there and tell them that.

"He has no legal or financial obligation to me. I am single and responsible for my own health care. I can not afford said healthcare on the income for my household, which I am the head of and which consists only of ME."

[soonergirl980]

Two things:

1.Weird because you aren't married why are they even counting him at all

2. When my BFF went through something very similar in Michigan they told her that CS must be listed as income.

[ManicAttack]

Not here! The parent who has the child physically more often gets to claim them on taxes. I know a lot of parents take turns and are okay with that. Not in our case. Even though SO pays the MAJORITY of SS's costs based on the state's calculations (65%) he never gets to claim SS. So he pays taxes on all the child support but is never considered to have a child. Which is messed up.

And, the assistance program is basically like a temporary Medicaid coverage. They want all household income included on the application and the total income vs expenses in the household determine my eligibility. On paper it looks like we make 55 grand. I only made 17 grand last year. Since we are both on the lease for our place, they want his info.

So frustrating. :(

Quoting 2bkayleesmommy:

I'm in cali, it's income. But, usually the person paying cs claims the child cause as far as taxes r concerned it's about who spends more money on the kid not who has the kid more. Also... Financially ur so should not be considered for ur financial anything ur not married.

[ManicAttack]

We are both on the lease for our apartment, so they old me they consider him a contributor to my income. I don't know why. They told me at the hospital that it is just how the state weeds out who doesn't really need the help. If I had a roommate on my lease it would be the same thing.

CS is included as income for Medicaid and food stamps, but is not considered income on many things in the state. Like the program I'm trying to get into.

Quoting soonergirl980:

Two things:

1.Weird because you aren't married why are they even counting him at all

2. When my BFF went through something very similar in Michigan they told her that CS must be listed as income.

[ManicAttack]

I already spoke to a rep and she told me it doesn't matter, he is on the lease and his income is included in the household so they assume he pays for some of my bills too- like my student loans and stuff.

I'm so pissed off. The bill department told me my payments can be as much as I want but with a $1500 bill, $25 a month is going to take forever.

Quoting JacyB:

How the hell is he responsible for your hospital bills? Sorry honey, but if youre not married, hes not responsible. You need to go in there and tell them that.

"He has no legal or financial obligation to me. I am single and responsible for my own health care. I can not afford said healthcare on the income for my household, which I am the head of and which consists only of ME."

[afwifeandmommy3]

They can not require your so to provide this .

[ManicAttack]

If I wanted to make sure I was definitely not going to be accepted, I have to. Otherwise they'll just close my case.

Quoting afwifeandmommy3:

They can not require your so to provide this .

[tiredmama42]

 I am in michigan also.  This is true that you cant claim CS as income nor can the paying party count it on taxes.   Michigan seems different from most states from things that I have read.

Quoting ManicAttack:

Michigan. CS isn't considered income for the receiving parent, nor is it considered an expense for the paying parent. That money is considered spendable income for the paying parent.

Quoting DDDaysh:

I am not sure where you are, but in Texas CS received is absolutely counted as income on assistance applications. It was a problem for years because they used to assume people got all the CS they were ordered to get, which often did not happen, but now there is a streamlined state reporting system for it.



I also know that the FAFSA application for adults asks about child support received and includes it as income.

 

[DDDaysh]

Only 1500 for two days???

[Melina74]

This happened to me.  I basically told them that my SO may be living there, but since we weren't married at the time we handled things as if we were roommates when it came to bills.  I simply put in my income, and listed half of what the monthly bills were, or if the bill was mine only, and in my name, I listed that in full.  Then I also claimed my child.  I did not list CS as income, since my ex never paid it, and push come to shove, I could prove it with CSE records.