In The Politics of Autism, I discuss Medicaid services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as other government programs at the federal and state levels.
As mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from 1975, schools must provide a free and appropriate public education to students with disabilities. But Congress has historically fallen short on covering the cost of educating special-needs students under IDEA, so states and local agencies have turned to Medicaid to help offset the difference and pay the cost for medical services and equipment. Starting in 1988, schools, like hospitals and insurance providers, have been able to request reimbursements from the Department of Health and Human Services for such expenditures.
In 2015, schools received nearly $4 billion in Medicaid funding, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, less than a third of what’s doled out for special education spending under IDEA.
That $4 billion has been essential to schools covering the costs of speech and physical therapy, behavioral services, and medical equipment, such as wheelchairs and walkers. For low-income students, districts use such funds to pay for vision, hearing, and other health screenings, as well as for school nurses and mental health services. It’s also important to note that school districts don’t just offer services to poor and disabled students during school hours; they act as a connecting point to enroll eligible low-income families in Medicaid and in the Children’s Health Insurance Program and help families find health care providers. In turn, schools get reimbursed for their outreach efforts.
Sherri Smith, the superintendent of Lower Dauphin, a suburban Pennsylvania school district of just 4,000 students, was also in D.C. recently to meet with representatives. She says the small but targeted $50,000 in Medicaid funding her district receives each year helps pay for more medical-related services, such as occupational and physical therapy, along with mental health services to serve a growing need for students in the district. The money also allows the district to pay for additional nurses and personal care aides for students with disabilities and low-income students.
“Schools are doing more outside the peripheral of just teaching and educating,” Smith says. “So actually getting Medicaid dollars for medical services for our students, which they need, allows us the opportunity to do so. I’m afraid that without those kinds of dollars, that will go away.”
