Requires the Department of Education to establish an updated plan for maximizing Medicaid reimbursements for administrative and support services provided to students with special needs. Requires annual reports to the Leg, the official text

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

3325

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

H.D. 2

C.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENTS.

BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that, pursuant to
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 81, H.D. 1 (2018), a working group submitted
to the 2019 legislature a report examining how the department of education
could maximize medicaid reimbursements for support services offered to eligible
students, specifically to special education youth having severe mental health
conditions.

The
legislature believes that, given the critical importance of providing all
students with a quality public education, further oversight and an updated plan
are needed to ensure that the department of education continues to maximize
medicaid reimbursements for administrative and support services for students
with special needs.

Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to require the department of education to provide:

(1)  An updated plan to maximize medicaid
reimbursements for administrative and support services for students with
special needs; and

(2)  Annual reports on the status of the
plan's implementation.

SECTION
2.  Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part II, subpart C, to be
appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§302A-   Medicaid reimbursement for administrative
and support services; students with special needs; reporting requirements.  (a)  The department shall establish an updated
plan to maximize medicaid reimbursements for administrative and support
services provided to students with special needs.  The department may amend the plan as
necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(b)  The department, in
consultation with the med-QUEST division of the department of human services, shall
submit a report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the
convening of each regular session providing the status of the department's plan
and efforts pursuant to subsection (a).
The report shall include:

(1)  A copy of the plan established
pursuant to subsection (a) and the status of the plan's implementation;

(2)  A detailed explanation of how the
following medicaid claim requirements shall be met:

(A)  Service documentation for the
individualized education programs of applicable students;

(B)  Confirmation of a student's medicaid
eligibility;

(C)  Records of completed parental
consent forms;

(D)  Documentation indicating that all
reported services provided are appropriate, medically necessary, and covered by
med-QUEST, in addition to any other details required for services provided; and

(E)  Documentation substantiating that
any medicaid reimbursable service provided was delivered by a licensed and
medicaid-enrolled provider or by select professionals under the supervision of
a licensed provider;

(3)  Training materials and evidence of
successful training on medicaid reimbursable school-based services rules and
requirements for department staff, including the assistant superintendent for
the office of student support services, educational director of the exceptional
support branch of the office of student support services, district education
specialists, student services coordinators, teachers, and providers;

(4)  Detailed information on the
department's procedures for identifying the medically necessary needs of
special education students, and, if eligible for medicaid reimbursement, the
complete process of pursuing reimbursement;

(5)  An evaluation of the department's progress
in implementing the updated plan, including monthly indicators of the total:

(A)  Number of students served, classified
by complex area;

(B)  Amount of medicaid
reimbursement received for direct services, classified by complex area, and
administrative services statewide; and

(C)  Amount of federal reimbursement
leveraged for eligible services, including both direct service claims and
administrative claims, classified by complex area; and

(6)  Information detailing how
reimbursement moneys are being reinvested."

SECTION
3.  New statutory material is
underscored.

SECTION
4.  This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.