I just found out that the School district bills Medical Assistance for everything, Speech, ot, play group, etc. That is why it is so difficult to get them to pay for private. They are already paying for it. Wow What happened to FREE and appropriate?. Anyway, I have an IEP meeting, that they told me about Thur. It is for this Tue at my house. Huh? Well, I want services to start so I will take it, but they are not following the rules it seems. Anyway, It is kind of my understanding from my state laws (WI) that I can tell them they do not have permission to bill m.a. not that they ever did. Have you heard of this? Am I the only one who didn't know this? Do they have to stop if I ask them to?
The school in our district that has the ec is quite far away. Ethan is terrified of vehicles. Not just one of his anxieties, but full blown terror at any large vehicle with a motor running. They are going to offer play group 1 hr twice a week and by the first of the year, preschool slowly building up to 2.5 hrs a day 2 times a week. This is what one of his therapists said anyway. I am planning on staying there for play group, I think it's required anyway. Question is can I get them to pay for a cab for us? Should I try and get it included in his iep? I think I can borrow a car one of the days, but not both. Our main clinic has a program that pays for cab to his private therapies and drs. appts. but not school. He is 3.7 Thanks, as always.
The school district bills medical assistance? I haven't heard of this before. I've never given the school my son's MA card. He only just got it when he slot came through around the end of March. Also, I can't imagine MA would pay EC services for kids who haven't officially qualified for MA. This is all news to me.
ETA - I've never even used the MA card. No one takes it around here! I had hoped maybe it would cover co-pays or help with private speech, but no such luck.
No, They don't have Ethans medical card either. I refused to sign a release for his medical records and with his ped also. Maybe they get it through some state agency. Maybe directly through m.a. I am really pissed to know this. They never said anything. The advocate I talked to said this is common practice, they never tell parents. You have to specifically ask them not to. Not that you would ever know. I'll see what they say on Tue. You should check into it and see if they have been billing since he recieved it. I could have gotten him a lot more private this last 7-8 months instead of the pitiful 1 hr 40 min we were getting through the school per week.
eta: we get private therapy through his medical clinic. UW health, They have a rehab clinic in town with excellent speech, ot pt. They are one of the few who accepted his m.a.
Katie Beckett will pay for the diapers when they hit the 4 year old mark . Yup pedi has to write the prescription for you :)
I'm not bashing anyone's decision to go private and in many school districts SLPs are stretched so thin that I couldn't blame a parent for wanting to hire someone who could afford the time to give more individualized attention, if the alternative was an overly burdened school SLP. As a mom, I can also understand wanting to be sure my child has the best (heck, I've paid for tutoring even when the school tutor was doing a fantastic job because I want the most for my child). I do want to address the statement that school SLPs are just general practicioners though and correct any misconception that as a group, they aren't as qualified to work with your kids (because to me that is what the general practicioner statement implies). This just isn't necessarily true (and BTW, if a school tells you that your child needs speech services that they cannot provide it is legally obligated to pay for them). Laws vary state to state re: exactly what qualifications you need to work as an SLP in the schools. In many states, school systems have chosen to hire persons who are not fully qualified and who would not be legally eligible for hiring in any other type of institution that provides speech and language pathology. I have strong opinions about this practice as I believe it hurts our clients and our profession. Having made you aware of that fact, I don't mean to imply that all or even most school SLPs are in this category, just that you should be aware that these persons are out there. If you have any concerns, ask if your SLP has a Masters degree and has passed the state licensing exam (for those states that license SLPs). This would be the minimum requirement. Ask if she has her Certificate of Clinical Competence (not usually a requirement in a school setting but it is a good sign that she is committed to excellence). All of us who get the Masters get basically the same training. There is no watered down version for the school SLP who wants to be a general practicioner or advanced version for the medical/private SLP. The field of SLP is broad in scope. Many of us end up more or less specializing in various areas during our careers so you could easily find SLPs stronger in some fields of practice than others. Those of us with the CCC are ethically obligated to inform the consumer when we don't feel experienced or knowledgeable enough to provide a certain type of service which may have been exactly what the "general practicioner" SLP was doing. I respect her honesty about her own skill level. Just please don't assume school SLPs in general are somehow inferior in training. I feel a bit strongly about this. I've worked in various medical and educational settings but have always gotten almost immediate respect in a medical setting. In the school setting, some parents seem to assume you are incompetent before they even know you.
My son's school based SLP was ineffective in helping my son and ofter brought out the worst in him. The School district contracted out to a private SLP. She works for all the elementary aged ASD kids now.wow Ive never heard about this before and also in WI . Weve only had the card a couple months though. The only time Ive used it is for his diaper prescriptions
I had our IEP meeting last week and I told them that they did not have my permission to bill medicaid. I understand how strapped the school districts are, but if given the choice between the school and private, I would have to take the private. They were really understanding and it looks like he will get some of both. 4 hrs a week from the school and 2 or 3 hrs a week private. If someone hadn't told me about this, he would have lost out on the private pt and ot which is what he really needs. I wonder if it's in any of the initial paperwork from the school that I overlooked. Do they also bill private ins or is it just those of us who qualify for medicaid?Medical Assistance billing (as it is called in WI) and billing of Medicaid in all states is widely used. A daily note isn't required in WI as long as there is a monthly one. Medicaid eligibility and documentation requirements vary from state to state. I personally wish we didn't have to do it since it is a ton of extra paperwork! Districts usually hire a 3rd party to administer the billing.I dont think my insurance would even pay for the services since he's diagnosed with Autism. Plus the school district dosnt have our private insurance info either.
Wow if you dont mind me asking where in WI are you? I'm only wondering if I should say something to our school. I dont think they charge though because they actually just found out he's on katie beckett.
I live in the Madison area. I am bothered that this isn't told to the parents so they can decide whether or not they want private or school services, if that's what it comes down to. I'm sure that has happend. They just get turned down by medicaid when those services are written into the school iep. I am not bashing the schools, just think this policy should be explained. Jumping back in here again! Schools don't bill private insurance. I'm surprised that many of you find private SLPs that accept Medicaid since the payment can be pretty low. Just out of curiosity, why do many of you think private is better? SLPs in private practice have the same training as the rest of us. I've done plenty of private/hospital/clinic therapy and it isn't better or different though I notice consumers usually think that it is. Just wondering.Our private SLP doesn't accept Medicaid.
My youngest son's big issue is language. When he was in EC, the school's SLP candidly told me he needed more specialized help than she was able to give him at school. She also told me that school SLPs are "general practitioners." Because of her advise, we went on the wait list for VB/ABA, and we found a private SLP whose specialty was working with ASD kids.
We were recommended for ABA therapy. We havnt looked into a private SLP yet since he gets some during school hours.
Speechie, I have also heard the same as Wi mom. My reasons are pretty simple. He would get more time, all 1 on 1 and they have all the equipment at the private therapists as opposed to the school therapists coming to our tiny apt which has no equipment. He has started back with the schools st. I like her a lot. He had st privately over the summer as well as ot and pt, because our school district does not offer any summer programs at all, unless you can prove your child will regress, which of course, you would have to let them do in order to prove it. Last year we had the ot come to the house for 40 min a week. The st and ec teacher came together for an hr a week. This iep was good through 2/2008. When they saw him this fall, they were really impressed with how well he has progressed, and decided to change the iep. He will go to play group 1 hr twice a week. Get ot at school 45 min once a week. speech at our house 45 min once a week. I am going to continue supplementing with the private as long as the m.a. will cover. He has some pretty severe sensory issues so I think more than 45 min a week is needed. He also has significant pt issues which are difficult to get addressed through the school. I have nothing against the schools teachers and therapists. They all seem quite competent and eager to help.
Wi mom, most private therapists I checked into didn't accept m.a. either. The ones we found are in a U.W Health Rehab Clinic. The kids HMO provider is U.W.Health. They have to accept it. The m.a. doesn't always cover it, but they go out of their way to write the prior authorizations and keep trying. They also have to show that their goals are different than the goals on the iep. The school therapists will talk with the private therapists to make sure this happens. I am pleasantly suprised with how cooperative everyone is this year. Now, If I can just figure out how to get him to all these places. Be careful what you wish for.....
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