What's New: April 2007

LEAnet Annual Conference. LEAnet, a coalition of LEAs dedicated to the protection and enhancement of school health programs, is hosting their Second Annual Conference May 9-11th in Washington, D.C. Paradigm is a supporter of LEAnet, and encourages you to visit their website for more information on their upcoming conference.

Important Program Updates

SPA 03-024 and LEA Medi-Cal Billing. SPA 03-024 is well underway and moving quickly toward its one year anniversary. As with anything new, we have had to prepare for set-backs that occur with any major program changes. For the first five months after SPA implementation, LEAs were seeing payments of 100% the maximum reimbursement rate (which included the federal and state share). Although overpayments have stopped, we are continuing to monitor how CDHS will reconcile the overpayments, and will post more information as soon as it becomes available.

Hot Topics in LEA Medi-Cal Billing. The hot topics of the season are Parental Consent and IDEA, Speech Therapy Equivalency, National Provider Identifiers (NPIs), and Personal Care Services. Paradigm has issued News Releases containing all the relevant information pertinent to your LEA, and will continue to update our clients if any new information is released. It's always important to keep the hot topics at the forefront of your program, as often this information is either changing frequently, or has dramatically affected program management.

CRCS and LEA Medi-Cal Billing. Cost and Reimbursement Comparison Schedule (CRCS) is a brand new fiscal reporting requirement for the LEA billing program. LEAs must submit their CRCS on an annual basis (in addition to the Annual Report traditionally submitted), as the program is now a Certified Public Expenditure Program. Remember, though, Paradigm has you covered! If you have any questions on this, or need more information, just let us know.

President's Proposed Budget FY 2008. As we've seen in years past, the Proposed Budget of FY 2008 threatened school-based administrative claiming once again. This year, however, there have been a few important events that have furthered the cause for sustained school-based administrative claiming.

• S.578 Protecting Children's Health in School Act of 2007 (Kennedy, MA) was introduced in February of 2007.
• H.R.1017 Protecting Children's Health in School Act of 2007 (Dingell, MI) was also introduced in February of 2007.

MAA Time Survey Training, You, and Paradigm. State DHS hosts a MAA time survey Training of Trainers every year. Training dates can be found on the DHS website. As a reminder, you (our clients) do not have to attend these trainings, as Paradigm staff will be present and will inform you of any new information. Only your LGA/LEC Coordinator is required to attend these trainings. However, if conducive to your schedule, as a MAA coordinator, you may want to attend a State training.

Also, note that Paradigm will be releasing pre-planning packets to all our MAA clients in early May. These packets are critical in effectively working with Paradigm on your annual MAA time survey training for you and your participants. Upon receipt, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.