About

The opinions expressed in District 299: The Chicago Schools Blog are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Catalyst Chicago or the Community Renewal Society, its publisher.

Powered by Technorati

District299: The Chicago Schools Blog
Return To Main Blog Page
Friday, December 21, 2007
Hillary Clinton Gives Universal Preschool Present Everyone's got a holiday campaign ad this year, and Hillary Clinton's includes her wrapping Christmas gifts and putting labels on them.  The gift cards read "bring the troops home, middle class tax cuts," and things of that nature:The punchline comes when a momentarily-frustrated Clinton says, "Where did I put universal Pre-K?"  Panic sets in at the thought of another year going on without UPK.  But then, Senator Clinton remembers where that pesky gift has gone.  "Oh, there it is."


Comments
Sun Dec 23, 2007 at 6:13 PMBy: We don't need no money - hppy xmas Hillary Clinton Gives Universal Preschool Present Bush Administration cuts $700 million in Medicaid funds for schools
Adam Doster
Published: Saturday December 22, 2007
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_Administration_cuts_700_million_in_1222.html

President Bush drew criticism this fall for his refusal to fund a children’s health insurance program. On Friday, his healthcare slashing continued.

According to the Washington Post, “the Bush administration eliminated about $700 million a year in Medicaid reimbursements to schools, sidestepping an attempt by Congress to block such a move.”

Issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the new rule is projected to save the federal government $3.6 billion over five years, transferring those costs to school districts. Many school principals and superintendents said that the loss of the funding could force districts to cut other programs.

A wide variety of medical services, like speech and physical therapy, are provided to students in schools. Medicaid, the government's health insurance program for the poor, will continue to pay for those services for low-income children.

However, the law changes will pay schools for transporting students getting speech or physical therapy to school or back home. It will also limit when schools can bill the federal government for clerical work necessary with providing health care. For example, schools can no longer expect Medicaid reimbursement for planning student immunizations.

While hundreds of people who opposed to the change commented in writing to CMS on the proposal, CMS officials said that most of the comments validated their anxiety that schools were improperly using Medicaid funding to pay for services "that are clearly educational in nature."

top
Add Your Comment

By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. District 299 reserves the right to delete or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule, and to ban anyone who violates this rule. Reader comments are limited to 500 words.





Comment:
Just so we know you're a human and not a spammer, please answer the following question: + =