Cuts to Medicaid would affect special needs students across St. Louis region
That's because public schools don't just provide education for children. As required by federal law, they also spend hundreds of millions on an array of expensive medical services for thousands of students with special needs, whether it be private-duty nursing, personal care attendants, physical therapy, speech therapy or occupational therapy.
Schools also use Medicaid to pay for school nurses and provide services for students from low-income families, including counseling, health screenings and asthma management.
Under the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, public schools are required to provide the services that are needed for students, regardless of disabilities, to come to school. A
For some schools, special education means supporting students who come to class on life support or hooked up to oxygen tanks, said
"Children have so many dreadful health conditions that they have to live with," Ratcliffe said. "They shouldn't have more restrictions than their health is already imposing."
In recent weeks,
Though Medicaid makes up a small fraction of federal money that public schools receive, it's considered a vital funding supplement for schools to provide federally mandated special education services.
That's because the federal government does not, nor has it ever, given states all the funding required for schools to provide mandated special education services.
Ratcliffe said studies show it costs twice as much to educate students with special needs than students without disabilities.
"The money that we're getting through Medicaid is helping to offset the cost," Ratcliffe said. "They don't begin to cover the cost."
At least
The most goes to
About
Nationwide, more than
That number also doesn't include charter schools, which also benefit from Medicaid. For example, Confluence
Compared to children with special needs who don't receive Medicaid, children who do miss fewer school days due to illness or injury, perform better in school and are more likely to graduate high school and attend college, said
"Whenever they're facing health issues that are not addressed, it has a definite negative impact on their ability to learn," Ghan said.
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