Buchanan County Public Schools is asking that DMAS reconsider the proposed changed for personal care.  The new regulations would make it impossible for school systems to bill medicaid for personal care.  The new requirements of having a physician sign the Plan of Care and all the process is not feasible for a school system because of time and cost in regards to the amount of medicaid reimbursement.

A decrease in Medicaid reimbursement dollars and an additional cost to school divisions for participating in the Medicaid reimbursement program is of great concern. As the number of students with disabilities increased (by 24% in Virginia in the past four years), so did the complexities of students’ needs. Consequently, federal, state, and local education funding fails to keep pace with the cost of providing special education, causing school divisions to rely more and more on Medicaid reimbursement to off-set the increasing costs of specialized instruction and related services.

We urge you to reconsider these proposed changes and allow the current school-based Medicaid reimbursement program requirements to remain in place.