The ASHA Omnibus Survey is conducted by ASHA every other year to obtain current information about issues of interest and concern to its members and affiliates. To date most states have implemented or plan to implement Medicaid billing in the schools. There are provisions in Federal and state law requiring state and local education agencies to seek sources other than those available under Part B or Part C of IDEA to pay for services for students with disabilities. Schools are increasingly tapping other sources to help finance special education programs. This means that a reasonable effort must be made to collect from all potential payers before Medicaid can be billed.
Parents retain the right to refuse consent for the use of their private insurance funds.
There are a number of legal, ethical and professional issues that speech-language pathologists who are providing services and submitting claims to Medicaid for reimbursement should review. The costs associated with obtaining services from the practitioner's primary employment setting versus those associated with the private practice must be made clear. Practitioners accepting cases in a private setting from their primary place of employment should inform the administrator at their primary employment setting of their intent. Therefore, a speech-language impairment necessarily adversely affects educational performance when the communication disorder is judged sufficiently severe to require the provision of speech pathology services to the child. If communication skills are a required part of the school's curriculum, and considered to be a basic skill necessary for all children attending school, then children who have a speech or language impairment would have a disorder that adversely affects educational performance.