ERIC Number: ED443251
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2000
Pages: 60
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Medicaid in Schools: Improper Payments Demand Improvements in HCFA Oversight. Report to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate.
Allen, Jathryn G.; Hast, Robert H.
This report to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance evaluates Medicaid reimbursements to schools for health services provided to children. The report addresses: (1) the extent to which school districts and states claim Medicaid reimbursement for school-based health services and administrative activities; (2) the appropriateness of methods states use to establish "bundled rates" for school-based health services and the costs of administrative activities that schools may claim as reimbursable; (3) states' retention of federal Medicaid reimbursement for services provided by schools' practice of paying contingency fees to private firms; and (4) the adequacy of the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) oversight of state practices regarding school-based claims, including safeguards to ensure appropriate billing for health services and administrative activities. Conclusions included that three states (Illinois, Michigan, and New York) accounted for over 60 percent of all health services payments; that payments ranged from a high of $820 per eligible child (in Maryland) to less than 5 cents per child (in Mississippi); that bundled rate methods often fail to account for variations in service needs or document actual services provided; and that HCFA has provided weak direction and program oversight. Appendices include an HCFA letter to state medical directors and comments from HCFA on this report. (DB)
Descriptors: Accountability, Disabilities, Elementary Secondary Education, Federal Aid, Federal Programs, Federal State Relationship, Health Services
U.S. General Accounting Office, P.O. Box 3050, Washington, DC 20013; Tel: 202-512-6000 (Voice); Tel: 202-512-2537 (TDD); Fax: 202-512-6061; Web site: http://www.gao.gov (first copy free, additional copies $2 each, orders for 100 or more copies mailed to a single address discounted 25 percent).
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Policymakers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. Health, Education, and Human Services Div.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A