 Wednesday, July 19, 2006 Legislation Would Also Strengthen Accountability in Use of Medicaid Funds - H.R. 5834WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and U.S. Reps. John Dingell (D-MI), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and George Miller (D-CA) today introduced legislation to ensure that school children with disabilities will continue to receive the health services they need to stay in school. In its budget for the 2007 fiscal year, the Bush Administration sought to stop reimbursing school districts for an estimated $3.6 billion in Medicaid spending over the next five years. That spending covers the cost of medical and health-related services that many of the nation’s 7 million school children with disabilities need in order to attend school. The bill would require the Bush Administration to reimburse school districts for these costs. “Education is the heart of a child’s growth and development. For children with special needs, health care is an essential part of their school day,” said Kennedy. “With all of the challenges they face, why should they be deprived of the support they need to learn and thrive in school?” “These kids deserve and need our help; their services should not be cut in order to pay for the tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest among us,” said Dingell. “Many schools across this country are trying desperately to help these special needs children and we should be doing the same.” “Children with disabilities should be able to stay in school with other kids,” said Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “Denying children these services means denying them an opportunity to actively participate in the classroom and truly learn right alongside their peers. The Bush administration should never have even raised the idea of threatening funding for services as crucial as these.” The threatened funding serves a variety of purposes, such as providing medical equipment for buses to meet specific children’s needs, providing transportation for children from school to their medical appointments, and covering the administrative costs of identifying children who need special medical and learning services. The Administration’s move to stop reimbursing school districts for the Medicaid services follows numerous instances in which it has already arbitrarily denied reimbursement to school for the costs of these services and in which it has failed to give clear guidance to schools about how to apply for the funds. In addition to ensuring that children with disabilities continue to receive the services they need to stay in school, the bill also improves accountability to ensure that funds are distributed and used properly. For example, the bill calls for the creation of uniform rules for schools to follow when they submit a Medicaid claim, and it establishes guidelines for ensuring that schools are held accountable for filing accurate claims. For more information on the Protecting Children's Health in Schools Act of 2006.
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