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1999 SESSION

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HB 2360 School division participation in medical assistance services.

Introduced by: Robert S. Bloxom | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS ENACTED WITH GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION: (all summaries)

School division participation in medical assistance services. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services or their designees to develop and execute a memorandum of agreement relating to special education health services that are delivered by school divisions to public school students. The memorandum of agreement must be revised on a periodic basis; at a minimum, it must be revised within six months of the inauguration of a new governor. The agreement must include, but need not be limited to, (i) requirements for regular and consistent communications and consultations between the two departments and with school division personnel and officials and school board representatives; (ii) a summary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a summary of school division responsibilities pursuant to IDEA, and a summary of any corresponding state law which influences the scope of these responsibilities; (iii) a summary of the then-current Medicaid regulations regarding special education health services programs; (iv) assignment of specific responsibilities of the two state departments for the operation of special education health services; (v) a schedule of issues to be resolved through the regular and consistent communications process, including, but not limited to, ways to integrate and coordinate care between the Department of Medical Assistance Services’ managed care providers and special education health services providers; (vi) a process for the evaluation of the services which may be delivered by school divisions participating as special education health services providers; (vii) a plan and schedule to reduce the administrative and paperwork burden of Medicaid participation on school divisions in Virginia; and (viii) a mechanism for informing primary care providers and other case management providers of those school divisions that are participating as Medicaid providers and for identifying such school divisions as Medicaid providers that are available to receive referrals to provide special education health services. In addition, the Boards of Education and Medical Assistance Services are directed to develop a form to be included with the individualized education plan (IEP) that must be accepted by DMAS as the plan of care (POC) and to collect data necessary to establish separate and specific Medicaid rates for the IEP meetings and other services delivered by school divisions to students; the POC must be consistent with the POC required of other Medicaid providers, allow for written updates, used by all school divisions participating as Medicaid providers, document the student’s progress, and be integrated and coordinated with DMAS’ managed care providers. A consent form will be developed which is separate from the IEP, includes a statement noting that it is not part of the student’s IEP, includes a release to authorize billing of school-based health services, and must be used by all school divisions participating in Medicaid. The consent form will be made available to the parents upon conclusion of the IEP meeting. The two Boards must work together to develop a cost-effective, efficient, and appropriate process to allow school divisions access to eligibility data for students for whom consent has been obtained. The state plan for medical assistance services will include a provision for payment of medical assistance services to Medicaid-eligible students that qualify for Medicaid reimbursement and may be provided by school boards. The Boards of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology and of Psychology will respectively license persons licensed by the Board of Education with an endorsement in speech-language pathology and a master’s degree in speech-language pathology as school speech-language pathologists, and persons licensed by the Board of Education with an endorsement in psychology and a master’s degree in psychology as school psychologists-limited. Individuals holding such licenses are not authorized to practice outside the school setting or in any setting other than the public schools of the Commonwealth, unless such individuals are licensed by the relevant board to offer services to the public. Persons who hold licenses as speech-language pathologists or psychologists without these limitations will be exempt from these limitations. The services delivered by school divisions cannot include any family planning, pregnancy or abortion services. Emergency regulations are required by the second enactment. The third enactment requires the two departments to report on or before December 1 of each year to the chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance, and the House Committees on Education, Health, Welfare and Institutions, Finance, and Appropriations. This bill is identical to SB 1199.


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