As the Medicaid Coordinator in SCPS, I am opposed to the proposed changes that the Department of Assistance Services (DMAS) wants to make to the Virginia school-based Medicaid reimbursement program.  The proposed changes would require a physician's signature for each Plan of Care for nursing and personal care services.  Currently, only nursing services require a physician's signature, while ADL's require no signature from the physician.  This creates a tremendous amount of additional work for our nurses not to mention the staff at the doctor's office.  Many times, there is a wait time for theses signatures which would cost the school division a loss of revenue.  In addition, transportation reimbursements would be affected since billing for transportation depends on other billable services being delivered.

As the number of students with disabilities increase in our county, the cost of providing these services fails to keep pace.  The funding that is received from Medicaid reimbursement helps to offset that rising cost of specialized instruction and related services.

Please allow the current school-based Medicaid reimbursement program requirements to stay the same.