October 1, 2019

DHCS News Roundup

by Paradigm Healthcare Services
Over the past week, DHCS sent a handful of email announcements to LEAs regarding the operations of LEA Billing.  For your information, the roundup is below:  2017/18 CRCS Submission Docs Update   On Sept. 27, 2019, DHCS posted the template documents for the 2017/18 CRCS. In addition, DHCS posted PPL 19-019 (Sept 18, 2019), which calls for a small change in how to submit your...
September 18, 2019

Healthy Schools Campaign Hosts Free Webinar on School Medicaid Opportunities

by Paradigm Healthcare Services
Date: September 24, 2019 Time: 1PM - 2PM, CDT About the Webinar This introductory webinar will explore the following questions: - What is Medicaid and what does it cover—in and out of school? - How can school districts leverage Medicaid to enhance school health services? - What is the free care policy reversal and how are states leveraging this opportunity to expand their...
September 5, 2019

School Medicaid Programs Make a Shift @ DHCS

by Paradigm Healthcare Services
On September 3, 2019, California DHCS sent this message to its school Medicaid stakeholders: "In an effort to align the work that we do with other work being done within the Department of Health Care Services, our Branch, “Medi-Cal Claims and Services Branch” has moved from the Safety Net Financing Division to the newly developed division called Local Governmental Financing Division (LGFD)....
August 13, 2019

New Push in California for Later Middle, High School Start Times—EdSource

by EdSource
The author of a previously vetoed bill last year proposing starting middle and high school later to give teens more time to sleep is working to bring it back again this year. It is slated to be heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, April 14, 2019. If passed, it would go into effect in July 2022, for the 2022/23 school year. Though research is mixed on whether or not later...
July 22, 2019

July Medi-Cal Bulletin for LEAs Posted

by Paradigm Healthcare Services
The July 2019 Medi-Cal Bulletin for LEAs has been published to the DHCS website. It included an adjustment to the reimbursement rates for LEA Services for FY 2019/20. Click here to read the current or past Bulletins.
July 11, 2019

DHCS Posts PPL 19-015, Notification of Change to Physician Prescription Policy

by Paradigm Healthcare Services
On July 10, 2019, DHCS posted Policy and Procedure Letter (PPL) 19-015 stating that for services dated July 1, 2019, and forward, treatment authorizations (orders/prescriptions) signed by Physician Assistants (“PA”) or Nurse Practitioners (“NP”) are eligible. This means, for example, that the specialized procedure orders that in the past met the criteria but were signed by a PA or NP...
July 3, 2019

DHCS Releases Report with Final Results of SMAA Deferral & Backcasting Process

by Paradigm Healthcare Services
On June 28, 2019, DHCS sent out their final report on the results of the SMAA program deferral and backcasting process; results long-awaited by impacted California school districts. The distributed SMAA Report on Results of Backcasting of Deferred Claims includes an executive summary of the final results of this multi-year process, a history of the deferral, and a detailed table showing the...
July 3, 2019

Pending CMS Guidance on Medicaid Block Grants: Executive Overreach Strikes Again—Center for Children and Families

by Center for Children and Families
It has been reported that CMS is developing guidance to encourage states to pursue a new “block grant” or “per capita” cap on federal Medicaid funding through Section 1115 waiver requests. And sure enough, this “Dear State Medicaid Director” letter has appeared on the Office of Management and Budget’s website signaling that it is under review by the White House. For a...