Bill Would Bar Cuts in Schools’ Medicaid Reimbursements

A bill in Congress would bar the federal agency that manages Medicaid from carrying out its plan to trim some of the money it reimburses school districts for providing health services for poor students.

A 1988 law allows districts to apply for reimbursement from Medicaid for certain services they provide to children under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—mainly speech, occupational, and physical therapy.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which administers the nation’s health-care programs for the elderly and the poor, estimates it can save $615 million in fiscal 2007, and $3.65 billion over five years, by not reimbursing schools for the costs of transporting students to the services and for administering the program. Payments for the basic services would not be affected. The cuts are included in President Bush’s $199.4 billion proposed Medicaid...