When people estimate Texas child support, they often forget there's a second, separate piece: medical and dental support. Under Family Code §154.182, this is ordered in addition to the guideline percentage — so the total a paying parent owes is usually more than the calculator's figure alone.
First choice: health insurance for the child
The court's priority is to get the child covered by health insurance. It looks at the cost, accessibility, and quality of available coverage, and gives priority to insurance available through a parent's employment if it's available at a reasonable cost. Most often the paying parent is ordered to carry the child on their employer plan, or to reimburse the other parent who carries it.
If the paying parent provides coverage
If insurance is reasonably available through the obligor, they're typically ordered to provide it. The premium for the child's coverage is also one of the deductions used to compute net resources — so providing insurance slightly lowers the base the percentage is applied to.
If the receiving parent provides coverage
If the parent receiving support carries the insurance, the court can order the paying parent to reimburse them — as additional child support — an amount equal to the actual, reasonable cost of the child's coverage.
If no coverage is available: cash medical support
When health insurance isn't available at a reasonable cost, the court can order cash medical support instead — an amount not to exceed 9% of the obligor's annual resources — so the child's medical needs are still funded.
Dental support too
Texas treats dental support the same way: the court can separately order dental insurance or its cost, again in addition to child support and medical support.
Uninsured medical expenses
Orders also commonly split uninsured or out-of-pocket medical costs (co-pays, deductibles, braces, etc.) between the parents — frequently 50/50 — on top of everything above.