September 18, 2019
Healthy Schools Campaign Hosts Free Webinar on School Medicaid Opportunities
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
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
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
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
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 9, 2019
Medi-Cal Enrollment Among Immigrant Kids Stalls, Then Falls. Is Fear To Blame?—California Healthline
"The number of undocumented immigrant children in California’s Medicaid program rose for about a year after the program debuted, then enrollment stagnated and started to decline. In February 2019, 127,845 children were enrolled, down 5% from peak enrollment in April 2017"
Read full California Healthline article here.
July 3, 2019
DHCS Releases Report with Final Results of SMAA Deferral & Backcasting Process
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
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...
July 2, 2019
California pays down their student loans, doctors agree to treat poorer patients—CALmatters
California this week said it will help repay the student loans of 247 selected doctors in exchange for their promise that at least 30 percent of their caseload will be people enrolled in Medi-Cal.
See full CALmatters article here.
June 28, 2019
Governor Newsom Has Signed His First State Budget. See What’s In There—California Healthline
Below is the summary by California Healthline in their Daily Edition, of the newly signed California State Budget. See the full article in the Los Angeles Times here.
The $214.8-billion budget Gov. Gavin Newsom signed, which is the largest in state history, will cut costs for some Californians and raise taxes on others through a sweeping set of new policies ranging from ending sales taxes on...