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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) with one of 20 three-year CMS State Grants for the Implementation, Enhancement, and Expansion of Medicaid and CHIP School-Based Services. Oregon’s approved Federal Project Title is: Statewide Implementation of Oregon School-Based Health Services including training, technical assistance, and billing guidance to increase enrollment, claiming, reimbursement, and access for students. The grant period is July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027.
With this grant funding OHA, in collaboration with Oregon Department of Education (ODE), plans to implement the following activities:
- Expand state capacity to provide technical assistance (TA) and address infrastructure needs.
- Develop and implement a training and TA plan that provides support to education agencies (EAs) to address barriers, challenges, and infrastructure needs to successfully participate in Oregon’s SBHS program.
- Increase engagement with EAs and partners.
- Implement strategies to generate input, evaluate the SBHS program, guide program improvements, and facilitate increased community engagement.
- Expand access to billing infrastructure for a pilot group of EAs during years two and three of the grant period (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2027).
To implement these grant activities, OHA has entered into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with WestEd, a research and service agency with expertise in educating and engaging EAs in accessing Medicaid reimbursement for services provided in education settings. OHA also plans to use grant funds to hire one limited-duration OHA SBHS analyst to manage grant coordination and pilot infrastructure support for selected EAs by funding an expanded IGA with Multnomah Education Service District (MESD) for the use ORMED, a third-party billing system.
OHA’s goals for these grant activities will lead to the following impacts:
- Improved outcomes for Oregon’s children and young adults;
- Reduced health-related barriers to learning; and
- Decreased health and education disparities for children and young adults.
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