The Ohio Medicaid School Program

The Ohio Medicaid School Program

The Ohio School Medicaid Program helps schools receive reimbursement from Medicaid for certain services that students already receive at school, such as speech therapy, OT, PT, nursing services, and some behavioral supports.

Annual Notice: 

Ohio school districts have the opportunity to receive federal Medicaid dollars through a program called the Ohio Medicaid School Program (MSP). Through this program, school districts can receive Medicaid dollars for services identified in the IEP or a Service Plan, such as Speech, Audiology, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Psychology, Counseling, and Social Work services. In the process of billing Medicaid for these services, billing information must be shared with the Ohio Department of Medicaid. For Medicaid billing purposes, schools must obtain a one-time signed Parental Consent to Share Health Information for the Ohio School Medicaid Program. After this one-time written consent, you will receive an annual notice of this consent.

Schools can request this consent for all students who may or may not be currently eligible for Medicaid. Some health information shared is specific to your student, while other information is related to all students within the entire school district. Schools can use this health information to help reduce special education costsand service plan costs that the district must deliver pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This student specific health information is protected and will be accessed only by people authorized to do so by the school's Medicaid contract.

Your consent is voluntary. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time (34 CFR Part 99 and Part 300.) You are not required to enroll in Medicaid. If your school does bill Medicaid, you will not be required to incur any out-of-pocket expenses such as a deductible or co-pay, decreased lifetime coverage, increased premiums or the discontinuation of benefits, or result in you paying for services. If a bill or Explanation of Benefits (EOB) is received, you are not required to cover any cost for school-based services.

Regardless of whether you grant consent, refuse consent, or revoke your consent, your child will still be provided with an evaluation and/or the services as identified by the IEP team at no cost to the parent/guardian.

Answers to frequently asked questions:

• Granting consent is of no cost to families. You will never receive a bill, and your child’s Medicaid services outside of school stay the same.

• Your child will receive the same IEP services whether or not you give consent.

• Consent is obtained when a Service Plan is implemented or at an initial evaluation and/or when a student already eligible for special education services enrolls in a new school. Consent can be changed at any time.  Parents can say “yes” or “no” at any point, and they can withdraw consent later with no penalty.

• What the school actually does:  The school documents the therapy or nursing services your child is already getting and sends that documentation to Medicaid to get partial reimbursement.

• Schools participate because the funding helps schools:

• maintain special education services

• purchase equipment

• support staffing

• improve programs for students