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About Third Party Billing
Minnesota law requires school districts to seek insurance reimbursement to help pay for the cost of providing health-related services to students who receive special education services. More information about this can be found in the “Procedural Safeguards” document published by the Minnesota Department of Human Services - MHCP: Coverage for IEP/IFSP Health-Related Services.
Private insurance companies typically do not cover these services...so we only bill Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) public insurance - Medical Assistance (MA). Services we bill for include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nursing services, PCA services, special transportation and health-related evaluation services.The funds we receive are used to support our special education program. In fact, the law states that this revenue can only be used to benefit students with special education needs within our district (and to pay for the cost of billing).
There is no cost to the student's family. Also, if the student is eligible for MA through a home and community waiver program, the district's billing will not affect the amount of services available through the waiver, and the cost of services is not counted against the child's waiver cap. There also is no impact to monthly, annual or lifetime service limits for the same or similar services from Minnesota Health Care Programs. There are no parental fees or co-pays.
ISD 318 prefers to obtain parent/guardian consent for billing in writing using a school district consent form. This is generally needed just once. As of July 2013, the MHCP application also contains a section in which the parent/guardian consents to school district billing. For many students, completion of the MHCP application satisfies the requirement to obtain consent.
ISD 318 case managers ask all parent/guardians to sign the MA parental consent form. If the student is not covered by MA at that time, the form will be kept on file in case circumstances change. This consent may be revoked at any time by writing to ISD 318 at the address below. The parent/guardian is notified annually of the district's intent to bill, either in the "Procedural Safeguards" document or by letter.
Questions? Please contact Amy Bean:
Third Party Billing, ISD 318, 601 SW 7th St., Grand Rapids, MN 55744
(218) 327-5825 or abean@isd318.org