August 24, 2017
DHCS Clarifies Position, Expressly Allows OT & PT Treatment Services Prescribed by LEA-Contracted Physicians
Big news for California LEAs who have been waiting for clarification from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) regarding Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT) treatment services prescribed by LEA-employed or contracted physicians.
In an email sent to program stakeholders on August 24, DHCS makes clear that prescriptions for OT and PT treatment services may come from...
November 30, 2016
New Laws Impacting California’s School Medicaid Programs
Throughout the year, Paradigm tracks various state bills that have the potential to impact California's school-based Medicaid programs and publishes a summary of those that have been signed into law and those that failed to make the cut.
Click here to download our School Medicaid Report: 2015/16 Legislative Review & Program Impact....
October 31, 2016
OIG Publishes New State Audits of School-Based Medicaid Programs
The federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published new audit reports of school-based administrative and health services programs in North Carolina and Michigan.
Random Moment Time Sampling (RMTS) continues to be a focus of OIG school-based program audits but the impact of these findings vary from state to state, as they do in the two reports released earlier this month. Concerns have...
September 29, 2016
Governor Vetoes Senate Bill 123, SMAA Program Improvements
Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed Senate Bill 123, a bill authored by Senator Carol Liu to legislate recommendations by the State Auditor aimed at improving California's school-based Medi-Cal Administrative Activities (SMAA) program.
Senator Liu's office has expressed disappointment but also noted that the hard work to improve California's SMAA program, and the students and families who benefit...
September 21, 2016
RMTS for LEA Billing — Implementation Advisory Group Publishes September Meeting Summary
The Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) has published minutes from their September 13, 2016 meeting, which included a review of the draft State Plan Amendment and RMTS-related training slides for the Fall LEA Program training, scheduled for October 13, 2016.
If you are not yet registered for the upcoming DHCS Fall LEA Program training, which will be hosted via web conferencing, click here...
August 22, 2016
RMTS for LEA Billing — Implementation Advisory Group Publishes August Meeting Summary
The Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) provided the following updates from their August 9, 2016 meeting:
Workgroup members are testing the draft CRCS and related instructions; two LEA members will be using their own data to provide detailed feedback to DHCS on edits and other suggestions. The draft CRCS is in the final stages of testing and the IAG expects to submit this to CMS in the...
July 21, 2016
OIG Publishes Report on Alabama’s School-Based MAC Program
The federal Office of Inspector General (OIG), an agency charged with reviewing more than 100 Health and Human Services programs, has published a report on Alabama's School-Based Medicaid Administrative Claiming program.
OIG is recommending that Alabama return all federal reimbursements received for the 2010-2012 fiscal years, $75.3 million, predominantly because the state did not have an...
June 22, 2016
Senate Bill 123 Passes Assembly Health Committee with Substantial Changes
Senate Bill (SB) 123, a proposal that would make large-scale changes to California's School-Based Medi-Cal Administrative Activities (SMAA) program, passed out of the Assembly Health Committee on June 14, 2016.
The bill was amended with the following substantial changes:
DHCS will not be required to contract directly with LEAs for their participation in the program as originally...
May 27, 2016
Legislation Proposes Big Changes to SMAA Contract Structure and RMTS Program
Senate Bill 123 (Liu-D) has been amended to include several proposed changes for California's School-Based Medi-Cal Administrative Activities (SMAA) program.
First introduced in January 2015, SB 123 was written to legislate recommendations that the California State Auditor made during their audit of DHCS' administration of the SMAA program and deferral that was performed last year.
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April 22, 2016
LEA Ad-Hoc Advisory Workgroup Publishes February Meeting Minutes
The LEA Ad-Hoc Advisory Workgroup, comprised of LEA representatives, DHCS, and the California Department of Education (CDE), held their regularly scheduled meeting to make recommendations and discuss issues impacting the LEA Medi-Cal Billing Option Program.
Highlights from the February 3, 2016 meeting include:
Attendees asked that ongoing DHCS Audits and Investigations (A&I) audits...