Children who are covered by Medicaid receive affordable and comprehensive health care coverage, to allow them to continue academic pursuits and become successful as adults. More than 30 million young people are currently receiving benefits under this program, and research has demonstrated clearly that this assistance makes a big impact on their future, as well as helping them deal with current medical conditions. So which school health services are covered by state Medicaid?
School Health Services covered by state Medicaid
Probably the single most important area of coverage for eligible children is providing the medical services needed by children with disabilities, so they can receive a good education. The goal of these services is to allow disabled children to be educated in the least restrictive environment possible, given their specific disabilities. However, this is far from the only area of coverage supported by Medicaid. All children who are eligible can receive such health services as dental and vision screenings, to ensure that basic health needs are being attended to.
Some of the other specific school health services which participating schools can be reimbursed for under state plans for Medicaid are the following:
- Nursing services
- Mental health services
- Audiology services
- Physical therapy
- Speech therapy
- Nutritional assessments and counseling
- Transportation
- Facilitating of determination for Medicaid eligibility
- Coordinating and monitoring Medicaid services
- Providing transportation to Medicaid-covered activities
- Making referrals
- Medical service program planning
- Positive effects of Medicaid coverage
A significant amount of study and research has gone into determining the impact of Medicaid on students who receive coverage while in school. Quite naturally, the government agencies who contribute the funding for state Medicaid are anxious to know that the funding is having a positive impact, and is accomplishing what the program is intended to do. Statistics compiled on this subject are uniformly positive about the huge impact Medicaid coverage has on students in school and long afterward, when they reach adulthood.
Research has shown that children covered by Medicaid in school retain better health as adults, with fewer trips to the hospital and fewer visits to the emergency room. Medicaid-eligible children have also shown that they are more likely to graduate from high school or college, earn bigger salaries, and pay more taxes than students who receive no Medicaid coverage due to ineligibility.
It is also reported that virtually all school districts benefit from the funding they receive for Medicaid-covered services because those funds can be applied to health services administered to all students enrolled, not just those receiving Medicaid services. In a survey recently conducted, almost half of all school superintendents indicated that they used Medicaid reimbursement funds to pay for general school supplies and health services, which all students benefit from. These general health care services include such critical areas as monitoring and caring for children with asthma or diabetes, as well as providing limited dental care.
One last service provided by many schools in this country is to serve as a kind of gateway for children in low-income families, by helping to get them enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The importance of Medicaid funding for schools would be hard to overestimate, given the fact that even for services that are not covered under Medicaid, the funding allows schools to reach out and connect children with services needed outside of school, and outside the Medicaid program itself.
