Notice to Parents Regarding Expansion of the Massachusetts MassHealth School-based Medicaid Reimbursement

Dear Parent(s):

The Randolph Public School system is now participating in the Expansion of the Massachusetts MassHealth School-based Medicaid Reimbursement Program, which is designed to include payment for services that are provided to students pursuant to an Individual Health Care Plan (IHCP), an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), a Section 504 plan, or services that are otherwise medically necessary. Payment for services provided pursuant to an Individualized Education Program (IEP) will continue to be provided under the expanded program.

The Federal government has ruled that cities and towns may be reimbursed through the MassHealth program for the money spent delivering health related services in our school district.  This means that a significant amount of funds can come back to our district --- but we need your help.  As you may know, it costs the school system a great deal of money to provide these necessary and important services.

In accordance with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE’s) student records regulations and federal law, schools are now obligated to submit claims for services provided to MassHealth-enrolled students for whom parental consent has been obtained. As part of this expansion, Randolph Public School would like to obtain your parental consent to share information with MassHealth, including information needed to bill MassHealth for services provided to students, DESE provides guidance on parental consent requirements on its website. This particular bulletin from the DESE website clarifies that parental consent will allow schools to bill MassHealth and does not change the MassHealth services that members can receive inside or outside of school.

Please keep in mind that granting or revoking parent or guardian consent to allow the school to bill MassHealth does not change the amount, frequency, or duration of MassHealth services that MassHealth members can receive inside or outside of school. Services that MassHealth members may receive both in and out of school include, but are not limited to:

• Nursing services
• Physical, occupational, and speech therapies
• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services
• Psychotherapy services

Please return the signed authorization from either your child’s registration packet or from your child’s first day-of-school packet.  We look forward to getting this one-time parental consent for school-based medical reimbursement program.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely yours,

Alpha Sanford, M.Ed., CAGS
Director of Special Education and Student Services

Questions:

If parents or guardians have questions or concerns about your child’s out-of-school MassHealth benefits, please contact the MassHealth Customer Service Center at (800) 841-2900.

For questions about parent or guardian consent, please contact the DESE Office of Student and Family Support at (781) 338-3010 or by email at achievement@doe.mass.edu.

For more information, please refer to the Randolph Public Schools website under the Family Resource Center, Medicaid Reimbursement https://www.randolph.k12.ma.us/Page/2310