Mental health services now covered under Medicaid in some Nevada schools

RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Nevada is leading the way in expanding its Medicaid billing platform to include mental health services.

A state plan amendment now enables districts to bill Medicaid for services outside the Individualized Education Plan, which means that districts can use services for students earlier. Focusing on early intervention, whether it be for mental health, behavioral health, social, emotional, or physical health.

Nevada Department of Education Deputy Superintendent, Christy McGill, says school-based health should complement the health system in the community.

"What we really trying to do here in Nevada is to increase the ratios of our school counselors, school psyches, and school social workers," McGill adds that they are "hoping this Medicaid strategy will enable the schools to bill for Medicaid in order to get more professionals in our schools".

After the pandemic mental health has taken a front seat, especially in schools. These services are aimed to help children thrive in the classroom. While billing for Medicaid in special education services has been around for about a decade, the state is building off that experience to add mental health and early intervention services as well.

This is very new, but we are building the system to enable those pieces, especially after the pandemic, we learned some hard lessons from the pandemic. And this strategy is a result of those lessons.

McGill explains what this strategy could look like, "Let's say a child starts to struggle with his or her behavior and it really is because there has been trauma at home or there has been a death in the family. So perhaps that student is feeling anxious and having trouble remaining in the classroom because of that anxiety," McGill says "having the person right in school to help that student with specialized techniques and skills to get through this," is one example.

Another goal is that eventually, districts can provide support for more students. McGill explains that even though this particular strategy is about funding for Medicaid students, schools are still making sure that all students get it.

It's another stream of money coming in to add to the educational dollars, hopefully resulting in more school counselors, more school social workers, and more school nurses.

Washoe County School District, Lyon County School District, and Clark County School District will be piloting the strategy this school year. In April, WCSD implemented an online one-stop shop, Care Solace for students and families to make resources more accessible. The district released the following statement regarding mental health services.

“WCSD is working to increase mental health literacy, improve access to mental health services and strengthen district infrastructure to support and sustain mental health services within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).”