Medicaid Updates: Part B Consent & Upcoming Move to New Billing System

Part B Consent 
We have received notice that the federal IDEA rules regarding Part B parent consent to bill Medicaid has been revised and went into effect as of March 18, 2013. This revised rule states that Parental Consent to be a one-time (no longer annual) written consent for students covered under Part B services. Students covered under Part C still require an annual consent. Medicaid consents signed before July 1, 2013 are valid and will remain valid until the billable services described in the consent are changed. All consents signed after July 1, 2013 must comply with the recently revised federal regulations on accessing a parent’s Medicaid to pay for services on the IEP (indicating the one time consent). The intended purposes of the rule are to (1) reduce paperwork for LEAs and AEAs and (2) increase the quality of information given to parents. The Iowa Department of Education is revising state rules to conform to the new federal regulations. The Iowa State Board of Education is set to adopt the new rules at its June 2013 meeting after a period of public hearings and comments. The Department has revised the consent forms and procedures (regarding the one-time written consent), which will become effective on July 1, 2013. 

What does this mean for me? 
If you serve students under Part B services who receive Medicaid services, please continue to obtain Medicaid Parental Consent to bill when appropriate. As of July 2013, the forms will change with the new web IEP system to indicate the standing consent. Any forms signed prior to July 1, 2013 (using the current forms) or any forms signed after July 1, 2013 (on the revised forms) will no longer require annual signatures. 

New Billing Service 
We have received notice that Timberline Billing will no longer be providing Medicaid billing services to Iowa AEAs as of July 1, 2013. A new vendor is currently being selected to provide this service to the AEAs. Heartland will work to ensure the change to the new billing system is as smooth as possible for staff. 

What does this mean for me? The deadline for submitting Medicaid claims using the Timberline T-Trak system is June 30, 2013. After this date, we will no longer submit claims through the Timberline service. Heartland will not be reimbursed for any claims that are not submitted to Timberline for services delivered on or prior to June 30, 2013. So please be sure to have all claims submitted by this date. Please watch for more information on this topic in the near future. 

 If you have any questions, please contact Sara Mercer, School Psychologist, at smecer@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14312.