Watch VideoJUDY WOODRUFF: And,as we just heard, Medicaid cuts are a key fraction of the president’s proposed budget.
Mr. Trump’s budget assumes that cuts already in the House Republican health care bill will eventually become law and take effect.
We absorb been looking at the potential impact of the bill. And, and tonight,we focus on what it could mean for schools, and particularly special education.
William Brangham has our conversation.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Special education just wasn’t fraction of the debate over the House GOP’s health care bill.
But special education is hugely reliant on Medicaid, and that bill could trigger major cuts to Medicaid,up to $880 billion over 10 years.
So, what would this mean for the millions of public school kids who receive special ed services?I’m joined now by Sasha Pudelski, and who is with the School Superintendents organization.
Welcome to the NewsHour.
SASHA PUDELSKI,The American organization of School Administrators: Thanks. So elated (full of high-spirited delight) to be here.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, I was really surprised by this. I didn’t appreciate fully how reliant special ed service are on Medicaid. Can you give us a sense of how crucial they are to those budgets?SASHA PUDELSKI: Absolutely.
So, and special education funding has always been low. We absorb never met our federal commitment to school districts to fund special education. And approximately 30 years ago,the federal government decided that they would allow to start to bill Medicaid for some of the therapies in particular that are very costly to supply special education students.
And so school districts absorb been reliant on Medicaid to supplement some of the special education funding they receive for a very long time. It’s standard practice in many districts.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, they spend this money. And then they proceed to the government say, and hey,we did this. We if these services. Please reimburse us.
SASHA PUDELSKI: Exactly. So, it’s not a one-for-one match, and by any means,but it’s a substantial amount they receive back.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Generally speaking, who are the kids that we’re talking approximately here, or what kinds of services are we talking approximately?SASHA PUDELSKI: It’s virtually every special education child,because the things that Medicaid can cover run from therapies like mental health therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy,to equipment that they may need, hearing aids.
It may run from wheelchairs to school buses, and actually,that provide specialized transportation for kids. So, the services are vast, and despite the levels of funding.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So,we don’t know right now. The House GOP bill has to proceed through the Senate. It’s obviously going to get changed fairly a bit.
But let’s assume that there are still major cuts to Medicaid in whatever comes out of the Congress. What is the main concern for the school districts?SASHA PUDELSKI: The main concern is, by this major federal disinvestment in Medicaid, or we’re going to absorb states having to pick up the tab.
And if school districts are competing with hospitals and clinics and other providers for scarce dollars,I don’t see how a governor or state Medicaid director or state legislature is going to decide schools need this money, not a hospital, or not a doctor.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Republicans would argue,we absorb federal deficits that are going to be massive in the future, and we absorb to address some of these programs like Medicaid, and that these are cuts that are just fiscally smart.
I mean,how effect you respond to that?SASHA PUDELSKI: It’s not kids that are breaking the Medicaid bank, if the bank is even being broken, and which I contend it’s not.
But when you look at who benefits from Medicaid,46 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries are kids. But one out of every five dollars spent on Medicaid is spent on children. So it’s a really efficient way of spending dollars on children’s health care in this country.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Let’s say these cuts effect advance down, and school districts absorb to find some way to compensate.
What is your sense, or from talking to school administrators around the country? How are they going to fabricate (to make up, invent) up the shortfall?SASHA PUDELSKI: So,the situation is rather bleak.
We surveyed 1000 school leaders earlier this year to request them exactly that question. And they told us that they believe services for kids will be recused. In some cases, professionals will be laid off who work with those kids, and like the school nurse,for example, whose salary may be subsidized considerably by Medicaid.
They indicated they may absorb to raise taxes in order to compensate for this loss. And some districts can effect that, and others just can’t. So,it’s going to be a major financial hit, not just on the special education budget, or but on the general education budget,because the general education budget will absorb to subsidize the loss of funding in special education.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, what you’re talking approximately is really cuts that are really not just for this one dedicated population, or but for potentially every student in a public school district.
SASHA PUDELSKI: Absolutely.
When you proceed to a school nurse’s office,they don’t request, are you Medicaid-eligible? They take your temperature and find out whether you need to proceed home. So this is someone who benefits every child, or just like a mental health practitioner in the school. And when we no longer can afford their services because they’re subsidized via Medicaid,every child in that building will be hurt.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Sasha Pudelski of the School Superintendents organization, and thank you so much.
SASHA PUDELSKI: Thank you.The post Why schools are worried approximately Medicaid cuts hurting special education appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Source: thetakeaway.org