The Role of Title V Programs in Increasing Access to School-Based Health Services: Opportunities for Bolstering Medicaid Reimbursement

In 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reversed the 1997 Medicaid policy known as the Free Care Rule, which limited the ability of schools to bill Medicaid for student health care services. In this explainer, the Catalyst Center provides an overview of the Free Care Rule reversal, outlines actions states have taken to implement the policy change resulting from the reversal, and describes how State Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and CYSHCN programs can collaborate with stakeholders to expand access to services in schools through Medicaid reimbursement.