Dive Brief:
- The federal government has announced it will award $50 million in grants to states to implement, enhance and expand Medicaid school-based services, with particular attention to be paid to rural and underserved areas.
- HHS' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to award 20 state grants of up to $2.5 million each over 3 years for improvements to Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program school-based services, according to a Wednesday letter to governors from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education.
- For the past year, HHS and the Education Department have teamed up to ease reimbursements to schools for various school-based Medicaid activities, including by issuing a long awaited revised guide for services and billing and launching a new technical assistance center.
Dive Insight:
The funding for the grants comes from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. School-based services that may be eligible for Medicaid reimbursement include preventive care, mental health and substance use disorder services, physical and occupational therapy, and disease management.
"As governor, you have an opportunity to increase Medicaid funding to your state for health care provided in your schools," the letter said.
The Education Department, meanwhile, last May proposed an amendment under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to require one-time parental consent before schools file first-time invoices for school-based specialized services for children eligible for Medicaid, CHIP or other public insurance and benefits programs.
Advocates, including several school administrative organizations, said the proposed change could lift service and billing barriers. The current system puts burdens on school staff to gather parental consents, making it difficult to reimburse for all eligible services, they said.
Opponents, however, are concerned the change could inadvertently impact services children receive outside of school. The proposed rules would require the parental consent form to stipulate that school Medicaid reimbursement efforts not impact lifetime coverage or other insured benefits. But some organizations and individuals worry that coverage of outside-of-school day services might be rejected for being duplicative rather than complementary.
While all states have systems for Medicaid reimbursement to schools for health supports provided under IDEA, 16 states currently cover school-based health services for all Medicaid and CHIP-eligible students.
The proposed rule received more than 9,700 comments, and the Education Department was expected to issue a final rule this month.
Reimbursements for school-based Medicaid services for students with and without disabilities make up the fourth-largest funding stream for schools nationally, behind Title I, IDEA and school meals, according to AASA, The School Superintendents Association.
