01
Copays & Deductibles
The portion of a covered visit or service the plan leaves for you to pay out of pocket.
Monday - Friday8:30AM - 5PM
OfficesFairfax | Manassas
Child Support / Unreimbursed Medical
Unreimbursed Medical · Virginia
The costs insurance does not cover.
Copays, prescriptions, braces, and the bills your plan leaves behind get split between the parents. We help you keep the records straight and collect the share you are owed.
First call is a conversation, not a commitment.
The Short Answer
Unreimbursed medical expenses are the medical, dental, and vision costs for the child that insurance does not cover, like copays, prescriptions, and orthodontics. In Virginia these costs are generally split between the parents in proportion to their incomes, on top of the base child support amount.
How It Works
Shared by income, collected by records.
The base child support number does not cover everything. Insurance covers a lot, but not all of it, and the gap can be real: copays, deductibles, prescriptions, and the big-ticket items like braces. Virginia handles that gap with a simple principle. The out-of-pocket costs for the child get shared between the parents, usually in proportion to their incomes.
What it covers
Unreimbursed medical expenses are the reasonable and necessary costs for the child that insurance does not pay. That includes doctor and dentist visits, prescriptions, orthodontics, vision care, and mental health care. It is the part of a medical bill left after insurance has done its part, plus the costs that no plan covers at all.
How it is split
These costs are generally divided between the parents in the same proportion as their incomes, the same income shares that drive the base guideline calculation. They sit on top of the monthly support number rather than inside it, so they are handled as they come up rather than averaged into one figure.
Why records decide it
This is where good habits matter. To collect your share, you need to keep the bills, show what insurance paid and what you paid, and send the other parent a clear request promptly. Stale or undocumented claims are the hardest to recover. Clean records turn a reimbursement request into something simple and, if it comes to it, enforceable.
When costs are large or ongoing
Most out-of-pocket costs are handled as they arise. But significant, recurring medical needs, like ongoing treatment for a chronic condition, can sometimes be folded into the support order itself rather than billed back and forth each time. Which approach fits depends on the situation, and it is worth setting up correctly from the start.
What it coversMedical, dental, vision, and mental health costs for the child not paid by insurance.
How it splitsGenerally in proportion to each parent's income.
Where it sitsOn top of the base support number, handled as costs arise.
To collectKeep bills, document what you paid, and request the other parent's share promptly.
SourceVirginia Code § 20-108.2.
Records Are Everything Here
Your share is only as collectible as your paperwork. Keep the bills, note what insurance paid, and send a clear request quickly. Stale, undocumented claims are the hardest to recover.
Source: Virginia Code § 20-108.2
Alisa Chunephisal, Esq.Family Law Attorney
Attorney Insight
A few honest things about medical costs.
"The law gives you a right to your share. Your records are what let you actually collect it."
The most common reason a parent never recovers their share of medical costs is not the law, it is the paperwork. Bills pile up, months pass, and the request gets murky. Keep every receipt, send a clear breakdown promptly, and follow any notice timeline your order sets. We help you build that habit, and when the other parent will not pay a legitimate share, we help you enforce it.
Questions Parents Ask
Plain answers about medical costs.
These are the questions parents ask most about splitting and collecting medical costs. If yours is not here, we are happy to answer it directly.
Have a specific question?
Call 571.260.0999 or send us a message.
How are unreimbursed medical expenses handled in Virginia child support?
Unreimbursed medical expenses are the medical, dental, and vision costs for the child that insurance does not cover, like copays, prescriptions, and orthodontics.
In Virginia these costs are generally split between the parents in proportion to their incomes, on top of the base child support amount.
What counts as an unreimbursed medical expense?
It includes doctor and dentist visits, prescriptions, orthodontics, vision care, mental health care, and similar costs for the child that are reasonable, necessary, and not paid by insurance. Purely cosmetic or clearly unnecessary costs are treated differently, which is why documentation matters.
How do I collect my share from the other parent?
Keep the bills and proof of what you paid, share them with the other parent promptly, and request their share. If they refuse, the obligation can be enforced through the court. Acting promptly and keeping clean records makes collection far easier, because stale or undocumented claims are harder to recover.
Are medical expenses part of the base support number?
The cost of the child's health insurance premium is built into the guideline calculation. Unreimbursed out-of-pocket costs are usually handled separately, split by income share as they come up, although significant recurring medical needs can be folded into the support order itself.
When You Are Ready
Owed for the bills insurance left behind?
Bring us your records and we will help you collect the share you are owed, or set up a system that keeps it simple going forward. Three offices across Northern Virginia, one phone number.