The Biden administration is making it easier for schools to bill Medicaid for special ed-related services. The action is part of a three-pronged plan, the administration says, to help schools deliver healthcare services to millions of students in more equitable ways.

The change would take away the need for the family consent provision when schools bill for Medicaid services provided through a student’s individualized education program (IEP).

Many children with disabilities receiving services under the IDEA are also enrolled in Medicaid either due to their disability status and/or based on their family income. Children with disabilities are more likely to have low income, and those covered by Medicaid are more likely to have greater healthcare needs than those who are covered by private insurance, according to the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

ED predicts of the 500,000 new students who are found eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B each year, nearly 300,000 are likely to be eligible for Medicaid and impacted by this rule.

The proposed changes “do not alter any of the critical parental consent provisions required by IDEA nor do they impact the parental consent obligations under the Family Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA),” said the ED and Health and Human Services (HHS) in their joint announcement.

Additionally, they noted, “the proposed rule does not alter the requirement that IEP services must be delivered at no cost to the child’s family, the requirement that IEP services cannot diminish other Medicaid-reimbursable services, nor Medicaid’s position as payor of first resort for IEP and Individualized Family Service Plan services.”