Volume 40, September 2020                                                                                                         
In This Issue
KEY DATES
2020-2021  
 Stakeholder Dates 

Oct. 8
9 a.m. - 12 p.m.  
Location: TBD  
 
Jan. 14, 2021           
9 a.m. - 12 p.m.  
Location: TBD  
 
Apr. 15, 2021
9 a.m. - 12 p.m.  
Location: TBD  
 
Quarterly Cost Report 
 
Oct. 30 
July - September 2020 (JS20) cost report certification by districts are due  
  
Annual Cost Report 
 
Aug. 3 - Nov. 2, 2020
District desk reviews will be conducted. Selected districts will receive Comprehensive Review notification upon completion of their desk review.
 
Nov. 20
Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 cost report certification by districts are due
Links
Welcome to the September 2020 edition of the School Health Services Newsletter!

Our newsletter is a Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (the Department) publication which provides information on the School Health Services (SHS) Program. The Colorado SHS Program is administered by the Department in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Education. Providers participating in the program may receive federal matching funds for amounts spent in providing health services through the public schools to students who are receiving Medicaid benefits.

Please feel free to share SHS News with your colleagues.   
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Thank you for your interest!
Department Updates
SHS Program Stakeholders
 
Your Stakeholder is a representative and resource on best practices, training techniques for your roster participants, and a SHS Program mentor. We encourage you to utilize them as a resource as we expand our program to Free Care Services. For information on our stakeholder meetings and how you can find your Stakeholder representative, please reference our Stakeholder Forum website. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Stakeholder if you have any questions.
 
Revalidation
 
Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid Program) providers must revalidate in the program every five (5) years to continue as a provider. The next round of revalidation will begin in October 2020, based on previous provider enrollment approval dates. Providers can find their upcoming revalidation deadline by checking the new Provider Revalidation Dates spreadsheet, now available on the Revalidation web page under the Health First Colorado and CHP+ Provider Revalidation section.
 
National Alliance for Medicaid in Education, Inc. (NAME)
 
The 2020 NAME Conference in Columbus, OH was cancelled, but this does not mean there is lack of opportunity for learning. NAME is a great resource for high-quality, timely information on school-based Medicaid, enhanced networking opportunities and relationship building. They are currently exploring various avenues to provide this information to you through virtual presentations. Therefore, we encourage you to become a member of NAME and stay informed on a national level! Another helpful tip: if your Local Services Plan has the category for professional development then you may be able to use that to pay for your NAME membership!
 
Threat Assessment Tool - Colorado Department of Public Safety
The Colorado School Safety Resource Center is an office of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. Mandated to serve all schools in Colorado, Pre-K through higher education, the Center provides no-cost consultation, resources and training on both physical and psychological safety. Please check out our website at www.Colorado.gov/CSSRC and sign up on the homepage ("What's Popular/E-Update") for our monthly electronic newsletter that will alert you to school safety news, grants and training opportunities.

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2020 Annual Training Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Random Moment Time Study (RMTS) FAQs
Question: If Special Education Teachers are moved to another job category such as Personal Care Aide, Health Tech, or Nurse Aide, will their costs trigger more edit explanations?
Answer: Moving Special Education Teachers to another job category in the direct service cost pool should be an exception rather than the normal course of action. They will trigger more edits because they are not in the expected job category. Only Special Education Teachers who routinely perform health related services prescribed on a medical plan of care should be considered to move to another direct service position.
 
Question: Do Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) also need their American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) certification?
Answer: SLPs will need their ASHA certification through September 30, 2020, however, starting on October 1, 2020 SLPs are no longer required to have an ASHA certificate instead they will need a Colorado Department of Education (CDE) license or a Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) license.

Question: When answering question number two in the RMTS "Who were you working with at the time of your moment?", would "student" be a sufficient answer?
Answer: Yes. Some other examples of acceptable answers are teacher, SLP, OT, etc.
 
Question: Special Education Teachers do a lot of redirection. What job category should we put them in?
Answer: If the Special Education Teacher is providing redirection/prompting as part of their regular teaching practices (based on their grade level) then they should not be on your staff pool list. If the teacher is routinely providing redirection/prompting as part of direct services prescribed on a medical plan of care, then they can be moved to the job category of Personal Care Aide.

Question: If another plan of care is referenced in the Individual Education Program/Individualized Family Service Plan (IEP/IFSP), which selection should be made from the drop-down menu in the RMTS survey question number one? For example, g-tube feeding is mentioned and the Individual Health Plan (IHP) is referenced.
Answer: When there are overlapping plans of care, the IEP/IFSP should be the selection.

Question: If I put a student's name as my answer to question number two in the RMTS "Who were you working with at the time of your moment?", would this be a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violation?
Answer: No, PCG has a Business Associate Addendum with the Department protecting the privacy of the student's information.

Medicaid Administrative Claiming (MAC) Reimbursement FAQs

Question: When a direct replacement occurs in the middle of a quarter, will they both appear on the quarterly cost report? 
Answer: Yes, all participants that spent time on your SPL will appear on your quarterly cost report. The job span bar will capture the exact number of days that each participant worked during the quarter. You will only report the cost based on the time worked in that quarter.
 
Question: What if a participant is on the quarterly cost report but was not paid within that quarter?
Answer: Enter zero dollars ($0.00) for their cost for that quarter. If the amount is left blank, a follow up will be sent requiring the district to enter zero dollars ($0.00) and re-certify the cost report.
 
Question: Can we report fees for ASHA licensure in other costs.
Answer: Yes, you can report the fees for licensure associated with staff on the SPL.
 
Annual Cost Settlement Reimbursement FAQs

Question: What are the dates of service districts should report costs for on the annual cost report (assuming the provider was on the SPL the entire year)?
Answer: The FY 2019-20 annual cost report is for services provided from 7/1/2019 - 6/30/2020.
 
Question: What is the due date for the FY 2019-20 annual cost report and future annual cost reports?
Answer: The annual cost report opened on August 1, 2020 and will be due on November 1, 2020 starting with the FY 2019-20 annual cost report. In future years, if either of those dates fall on the weekend, then it will default to the next business day.
 
Question: If transportation staff were still paid during remote learning, can these costs be claimed on the annual cost report?
Answer: Yes, costs expended associated with primary job function that qualifies them for reimbursement can be claimed on the annual cost report. Costs related to delivering food, fuel/oil costs during remote learning, etc. will not be allowable as these costs are not associated with transportation of students.  
 
General FAQs

Question: Can Strategic Intervention Training (SIT) videos be viewed at any time?
Answer: Yes. Recorded versions of the SIT videos are available on the homepage of the PCG Claiming System.
 
Question: How much time do districts have to gather their Comprehensive Review documentation?
Answer: 20 calendar days.
Free Care Corner
The expansion of services to include Free Care will begin on October 1, 2020. Districts have been working on training new and existing time study participants on the program expansion in preparation of the OD20 time study. The recent annual training focused heavily on the expansion of services and offered guidance to districts on targeted program areas impacted by the new methodology. These areas include new licensure updates for new and current providers, other medical plans of care, revised time study questions and new compliance requirements.
 
Program materials have also been updated to reflect the expanded services and can be located on the SHS website and in the PCG Claiming System. Specific documents that will help districts follow the new compliance requirements can be referenced in the following list of program materials:
  • Annual Training 2020 (Recorded)
  • District RMTS Coordinator User Guide
  • SPL Decision Tree
  • SHS Program Manual
  • Free Care FAQs
Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Updates
2020 Annual Training FAQs
 
Question: How often do we need to get a parent signature for the purposes of billing Medicaid?
Answer: A parent consent signature is required to be on file with the district to bill for the SHS program. A one time, written parental consent is required; an annual notification is required thereafter.

Question: What are you considering an E-signature?
Answer: Electronic signatures are an area of rapidly evolving technology, especially during COVID-19. While E-signatures may be used if an original handwritten signature is not obtainable, it is up to each district to determine what form of E-signature is appropriate.  
 
Question: Would an email from a parent stating consent be valid? 
Answer: Each district will need to determine which mechanisms are acceptable. The recommendation would be to work with your district, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and/or legal advisors to establish how this process will be done.
 
Question: Will the E-signature need to be documented and kept on file with the district? 
Answer:  Yes. It will be important to maintain a copy of the E-signed consent that clearly shows the name of the person who signed the consent and the means used to obtain the signature. For example, if a district chooses to use an e-mail confirmation as the E-signature for consent, then it would be important to attach a copy of that e-mail to the consent.

Question: How often do we need to get a parent signature for the purposes of billing Medicaid?
Answer: A parent consent signature is required to be on file with the district to bill for the SHS program. A one time, written parental consent is required; an annual notification is required thereafter.
 
Question: We understand that if a student leaves a district and returns to the same district, the district should get a new parent consent on file, but what if the student was absent for less than a year?
Answer: It is best practice to ensure a parent consent is received if a student returns to the district after being absent, the amount of time that the student was absent from the district does not affect this determination.
 
Question: Can we pay for mileage and phone use for individuals whose salaries are paid Medicaid reimbursement funds?
Answer: Funds must be used to enhance or support the availability of health services for students in the district. If paying for nurse travel mileage and phone costs serves that purpose, it would be an allowable use of funds.
 
Question: Do I need to get approval if I would like to supplement the amount of reimbursement funds going towards full-time special service providers?
Answer: Although your CDE support system can always help with problem solving, you only need to contact us for an local service plan (LSP) change approval if you zero-out (remove) or add a new category to your LSP.
 
Question: If the district has consents for students with IEPs, and the district modifies their consent form to include language related to the "Free Care Act", will the district need to get new consent forms for these students?
Answer: No, however if the student exits the IEP and qualifies to receive services under another plan of care (504 plan, healthcare plan, behavior plan, etc.), the district would then need to obtain a new consent form referencing the "other plan of care".
Colorado Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing  
(303) 866-2993 | 1570 Grant Street, Denver, CO 80203