This website is this webmasters chance at associating a legal concept with an education concept that limits the concept to those in these two fields but opens the door to concepts that connect these fields to one another. by doing so, this blog hopes to find like-minded peers and collaborators. Medicaid Single Case Agreements come in to play when there is a need for a child to receive services related to either a disability or a language acquisition issue (or both, depending on the state). Medical care is provided outside the normal health insurance or state Medicaid program agreements. These agreements can support or be related to issues of provider information and access, interpreters, support services, and access to the pediatricians and physicians that are necessary for multilingual and multi-disabilities services are provided. Medicaid Single Case Agreements are critically important for all kinds of students, particularly those with disabilities or have the need to communicate in a primary language other than English or their families primary language.
This agreement allows states to provide services for students in special circumstances outside the normal Medicaid or state insurance program and is therefore critical to language education because of the positive impact this can have on communications between health care providers and families or medical care providers and families to ensure that the needs of a student who is not proficient in English are met in a way that is focused on understanding the message and the services being provided. There are two aspects of these provisions that beneficial. One is the communication skills of an interpreter to ensure that a language is accurately represented to provide the medical care. Second, is to ensure that services are provided outside the typical human resources. In other words, providing services through a Medicaid Single Case Agreement can ensure that a child with a language need in an understaffed school district receives the services necessary to succeed.
The legal aspects of a Medicaid Single Case Agreement are essential because they provide a solid map for how schools and their agency partners are able to provide the services in a more cost effective manner. Because schools have the authorized ability to make decisions about how Medicaid payments are received and how to contract with medical providers, it ensures that the schools don’t lose funding to provide proper educational and support services to students. These provisions work so well because they can meet the needs of many students who have difficulty communicating and need medical assistance and need to have their conditions treated while in school. The school can issue a Medicaid Single Case Agreement which expands the schools ability to communicate with the family to ensure that there are no language barriers between the parent or guardian and the medical service provider. By removing this barrier, the schools can then focus on the academic needs of the child. This is why Medicaid Single Case Agreements are so beneficial for this type of student.
The difficulties that comes with these agreements happens when Medicaid or other insurance providers deny part of the medically necessary care or appropriate care for the student, even when a Medicaid Single Case Agreement is in place. When these agreements are put in place, they become overlapping obligations as opposed to independent obligations so that the legal focus is solely on the provision of services and the provision of medical information to minimize the time that a medical service will be unavailable to the child. The legal focus is on the provision of the service and granting Medicaid extended access to students so that they can receive the services that are necessary for them to be successful in their education. In some cases, a Medicaid Single Case Agreement can be extended past a single school year so that a student can receive services in a long-term fashion. For example, a student who is in first grade and requires physical therapy may continue to require physical therapy in 2nd or 3rd or 4th grade so the idea is that these are not just short term agreements. This agreement can go beyond a school year. For example, if a child is diagnosed with a disability in pre-school or kindergarten and eventually moves up to elementary school, the Services can be kept in place.
For more information on Medicaid and its implications, you can visit Medicaid.gov.