As you may know, School Supportive Health Services Program (SSHSP) assists participating school districts with accessing Medicaid reimbursement for Medicaid-eligible students with disabilities receiving certain medical/health support services. Generally, the Medicaid reimbursement is received by the NYS Department of Health (DOH) and the payment is comprised of both the Federal share and the State share at 50% each. The Federal share of the Medicaid appropriation to districts is included as part of the budget for Department of Health (DOH) and the State assigns the authority for the state share (50%) to go from NYSED to DOH. This process allows DOH to allocate 100% of the payment to school districts.
The Department of Health (DOH) recently provided information to NYSED which indicates that the federal government reimbursed additional funds towards the Federal Share of Medicaid payments to cover the cost for certain Medicaid enrollees under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, some districts may receive an amount that is greater than their normal 50% distribution for the Federal share of Medicaid payments for 2017-18. Please note, this increase in the reimbursement of the federal share was provided on a temporary basis and is only applicable to some Medicaid enrollees. Therefore, not all students with disabilities enrolled in Medicaid and receiving medical/health support services will generate an increase in the federal share reimbursement.
NOTE: The June Excess Cost Aid Payment Certificate only displays the Medicaid deduction for the State Share for Medicaid reimbursements. SED is not able to identify which student(s) generated the increase in the reimbursement for the federal portion. Any temporary increases in Federal funds generated through submitting SSHSP claims for these students should be retained by your district.
If you have any questions regarding the specific allocation amounts for your Medicaid claims, please contact SED’s STAC & Medicaid Unit at 518-474-7116 and they will be able to provide the details.
