Overview of Alaska School-Based Services Project
Alaska's Medicaid School-Based Services (SBS) project aims to support Medicaid reimbursement for eligible services to Medicaid-enrolled students statewide.
Currently, only six out of fifty-four Alaskan school districts engage in Medicaid billing for eligible school-based services. Covered services include speech, occupational, and physical therapy, audiology, and nursing services related to medication administration for behavioral health. Reimbursement is contingent upon a student having a disability and the eligible services being included in the child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
The Alaska Department of Health (DOH) is pursuing changes to SBS to broaden reimbursement eligibility for types of services, increase the number of schools utilizing Medicaid reimbursement, and bringing services to the setting the child is the most, school. Collaboration between the DOH, the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and other stakeholders have formed the Alaska Medicaid SBS Project team to facilitate engagement and feedback to enhance program efficiencies and address barriers.