2020-2021
Stakeholder
Dates
April - June 2020 (AJ20) cost report
will open
for districts reporting
Quarterly
Refresher Training
AJ20 certifications
are
due
Annual cost report
will
open for district reporting
Annual cost report certifications
are
due
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Welcome to the June 2020 edition of the School Health Services Newsletter!
Our newsletter is a Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (the Department) publication which provides information on the School Health Services (SHS) Program. The Colorado SHS Program is administered by the Department in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Education. Providers participating in the program may receive federal matching funds for amounts spent in providing health services through the public schools to students who are receiving Medicaid benefits.
Please feel free to share SHS News with your colleagues
.
Thank you for your interest!
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Sign-up for HCPF's COVID-19 Weekly Update
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The Department has created a bi-weekly update for providers, stakeholders, community partners and staff about the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). If you'd like to opt-in to receive this newsletter, please go to the Department's
newsletter sign-up webpage
, complete the form with your contact information, click "COVID-19 Weekly Update" and then the "Sign-Up" button.
Additionally, the Department has created a COVID-19 resource center for various audiences, including providers, at
colorado.gov/hcpf/covid.
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This year looks a lot different from any other school year. We have all become more familiar with online formats for meetings and trainings. To ensure everyone's safety and remain compliant of social distancing guidelines the Department has made the tough, but safest, decision to conduct our Annual Trainings on a virtual platform. In the coming weeks, more details will be given on Annual Training dates, times, format and other pertinent information. It is essential we have your participation as we are still moving forward with the SHS Program expansion.
Given the
situation
of our state budget,
a
few changes had to be made to the SHS
Program.
E
ffective
July 1, 2020
contesting the match for the Medicaid Enrollment Rate (MER) ratio, otherwise known as the October 1 count, and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) ratio, otherwise known as the December 1 count, is no longer part of our contract with our vendor and will no longer be offered. You will still be able to request back up documentation for your
records.
This change will have minimal
if any
impact to our school districts and appreciate your understanding.
Onto to brighter news! The SHS Program has three new Stakeholders! Please welcome Lark
Masten
to the Northwest region, Nancy Bunjes to the North Central region, and Rachel Foster to the Metro Region. For more information regarding the SHS Program Stakeholders visit the
Department's Website
. Your region's Stakeholder is your mentor and as we approach our program expansion please do not hesitate to reach out to them for support.
We are all working under pressure during unprecedented times. We want to give a shout out to all you for your compassion, hard work, and commitment to not only keeping the SHS Program afloat but also the district you work in and ultimately your community. Thank you!
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Annual Cost Report Due Date
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Participation in the Colorado SHS Program requires districts to complete an annual cost report each fiscal year.
T
he annual cost report
has always been
due on October 1
but beginning with the
Fiscal Year
(FY)
2019-20 annual cost report, the due date
for the annual cost report
will be November 1
. The August 1
opening date
for annual cost report collection
remains unchanged. The timeline for districts to receive their annual cost settlement payment may be impacted slightly but will occur no later than June 30
each year. Our consultants at Public Consulting Group (PCG) and the Department hope this
added time to report costs and other data required to determine the annual cost settlement
will benefit districts as this is one of the busiest times of the year.
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Free Care implementation is underway. In preparation for the expansion of Free Care which starts
with the Random Moment Time Study (RMTS)
on October 1
, PCG hosted four live mini trainings. The trainings covered an overview of Free Care in addition to
the following topics: Other plans of care, new provider licensure requirements and the RMTS. These trainings were recorded and posted to the PCG Claiming System. The Department also has the PDF PowerPoint versions posted on the School Health Services (SHS) website. The SHS website also houses the program
manual which is in the process of being updated. The program manual will include but not be limited to user guides for the PCG Claiming System, new provider credentials and the new RMTS requirements. All free care resources can be referenced at the websites listed below:
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COVID-19 Update for the AJ20 RMTS
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This March when Governor Polis declared a state of emergency in Colorado
due to the C
OVID-19 Pandemic
, many districts experienced shutdowns or transitioned to online learning platforms. This created an additional administrative burden on districts/Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) while managing moment responses in the RMTS. In early April, the Department submitted a request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services
(CMS) for consideration of a waiver approval to halt the April - June 2020 (AJ20) time study and use an alternate method to calculate activity percentages for the quarter. This request was approved on April 22
nd
in addition to a revised Time Study Implementation Guide, which includes a new section titled, "State of Emergency Exception". The language in this new section can be seen below:
"In the event there is a "state of emergency" or other disaster declared in the State of Colorado that results in prolonged district closures that impact the statistical validity of the RMTS as defined in the Sampling Requirements section of this methodology under sampling precision and confidence level, The Department will apply the summer quarter claiming methodology to statistically invalid quarters occurring during the "state of emergency" including the quarter in which the state of emergency is declared and the quarter in which the state of emergency period ends. This means no RMTS will be run during the impacted quarter(s) and claiming will be based on the average of the quarters that were completed. The Department will notify CMS within 15 days of determining that a quarter is statistically invalid, including the reason for the determination, along with details and dates of the declaration of emergency."
The current times study methodology for calculating activity percentages during the July-September (JS) 2020 quarter was approved as the alternate method for quarters when a state of emergency has been declared. Equation 1 demonstrates this method below:
For the AJ20 quarter the sum of activity codes from October - December 2019 (OD19) and January - March 2020 (JM20) will determine the final RMTS percentages. For this reason, the July - September 2020 (JS20) quarter will have the exact same RMTS percentages as AJ20 which is illustrated in the diagram below:
The Department notified districts/BOCES of the waiver approval the same day it was granted. To view the updated state of emergency section in the Time Study Implementation Guide please reference Appendix 4 in the
SHS Program Manual on the Department's SHS webpage.
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Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Updates
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The CDE team would like to thank all of you for your incredible work this year to support the health and wellness of your students. We are especially grateful for your patience this year, as Jill transitioned into retirement and COVID-19 hit! As you embark on your Summer work, we'd like to share some reminders with you.
We have had several questions from the field regarding parental consent in the past few months and wanted to revisit the written signature requirement. Written parental consent is required and verbal permission is not acceptable. According to
C.R.S. 25.5-5-318
of the program manual, "No medical or health data or information identifying the student or the student's family shall be disclosed to any person other than a person specifically authorized to receive the information or data without the prior written and informed consent of a parent or legal guardian of the student."
We also want everyone to know that we understand the challenges around managing additional responsibilities during COVID-19. Because of this, CDE has extended the timeline for Local Service Plans (LSP) to August 31, 2020. Please let us know if we can assist you over the summer to complete your LSP, if you have one due.
Best wishes for a healthy, happy summer!
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The School Health Services Program is a joint effort between the Colorado Department of Education and the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing.
If you have any suggestions for the newsletter please email School Health and Grants Assistant Administrator Marissa Visscher, SHS Program Assistant Tracy Gonzales or Public Consulting Group (PCG).
Additional SHS Program Contacts:
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