Parental Consent for Medicaid Services, January 2007
Schools that choose to use Medicaid benefits to pay for special education services must obtain parental consent under the recently issued Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) regulations, which became effective October 13, 2006. The new regulation, section 300.154, requires schools to obtain parental consent “each time that access to public benefits or insurance is sought.” The parental consent must also meet the requirements of section 300.9, including fully informing the parent of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought in the parent’s native language or other mode of communication.
The following guidance is in response to confusion surrounding this issue. Some school officials have mistakenly concluded that a separate signed parental consent form is required for each individual service incident. Obtaining signed parental consent each time a service is provided would result in an unnecessary and significant increase in time and effort for schools accessing Medicaid benefits to pay for special education services. Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) position on this issue is that the parental consent requirement in section 300.154 can be met by obtaining one consent that: 1) specifies the number of times the school will access Medicaid benefits over a definite period of time, such as a semester or school year, and 2) meets requirements for consent in section 300.9.
Parents should be fully informed regarding the purpose of the consent consistent with federal regulations. In this case, fully informing parents should include an explanation that the school may not: 1) require parents to incur out-of-pocket expenses or sign up for public benefits in order for their child to receive services, 2) use benefits that would decrease a child’s lifetime coverage or result in the family paying for services that would otherwise be covered, or 3) use benefits if that use would increase premiums, lead to the discontinuation of benefits or risk loss of eligibility for home and community-based waivers as described in section 300.154. A new consent should be sought at least every school year.
Text of Section 300.154 and Section 300.9 | MS Word document
For technical assistance regarding this topic please consult your regional Education Service Center.
Texas Education Agency | Division of IDEA Coordination
1701 North Congress Avenue | Austin, Texas 78701-1494
Telephone: 512.463.9414 | Fax: 512.463.9560
Created: January 8, 2007
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