Arkansas Medicaid has recently made changes to its policies and procedures regarding testing and evaluation of children with disabilities, ages 3 through 5, served in education services cooperatives and public schools.
Medicaid will now accept evaluations conducted on this population for a three-year period of time, rather than requiring annual evaluation, as previously requested. In addition, new evaluations are no longer necessary for Medicaid purposes upon a child’s transition from a preschool setting into kindergarten, so long as the student has been evaluated within the past three years. This policy change is based on the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) interpretation of regulations for testing, as well as other research.
The change pertains only to evaluations of children with disabilities, ages 3 through 5, receiving occupational therapy, physical therapy, and/or speech-language pathology services through the education services cooperatives and public schools.
Additional information on any Medicaid program can be accessed through the Provider and Provider Manual links at http://www.medicaid.state.ar.us or at the Special Education website at http://arksped.k12.ar.us under the Medicaid section.