What Does Medicaid Mean for Your Child?

The following are excerpts from a piece written by Marlene Tobin of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, explaining what Medicaid means for the child in the government schools.

I suggest you read the entire article on Medicaid in the schools and think about it. The school doesn't call the kids "mentally ill," the Government does. Medicaid money and federally block granted/state run Medicaid program only pays out for medical problems. It is a medical program through Medicaid, and ALL claims for monies paid out must have a medical code, just like going to the doctor and other insurances. The codes for ALL insurances, including Blue Cross or Medicaid are ALL the same. When "at risk" students receive Medicaid money, a DSMIV code is often assigned to that student through their social security number, so that Medicaid money (for medical illness) can be claimed. The DSM code book (Diagnostic and Statistics Manual) for mental health lists and classifies ALL "mental illnesses" for which claims can be paid.

This is a serious problem. Children receiving a "mental illness" DSM code assigned to their social security number so the schools can claim Medicaid money for that child, will have that particular reference attached to their social security number for the rest of their life. Remember, this is the Technology Age, and data banks are becoming commonplace.

What does this look like down the road?

. . . when the child reaches, say, 21 years old and wants to enter military service; his/her social security number will be run through a system to see if any federal money is owed to the government or if monies have been paid out on that number, or as a standard review of just any information in general that has been collected over the years and attached to that social security number. This is done even today, if you enter the military. However, a reference to Medicaid dollars being paid out for "mental illness DSM codes" will pop every time, on these children being coded in schools today, saying that some time in that person's past, the Medicaid program paid for mental illness treatment for that person.

Parents are unaware of this and the future ramifications for their children. In fact, NO one knows the possible ramifications in the future, since no one can predict how the social security number will be used in the future or how many data banks on all there will be.

Remember the 1,000 FBI files in the basement of the White House?

Most schools and school districts in the country today have a hospital/medical provider number, and collect Medicaid dollars. Some dollars are legitimate dollars paid for physical disabilities and legitimate emotional disabilities. However, several years ago the new Title 1 regulations from the federal government allowed the states to file for a waiver of eligibility regarding income for children to the age of 21. That meant if your state applied for the waiver (and most did), ALL children regardless of their parent's income, became entitled to Medicaid dollars. This began the "at risk" program. Schools could now get medical dollars under Medicaid for teaching, counseling of any student that was labeled "at risk" by applying for the Medicaid dollars either under a block through IU's, or under individual social security numbers. Some schools in Pennsylvania receive Medicaid money for as much as 20% of their populations: Ritalin children, ADD, ADHD, and other codes. . . . With many school districts in need of money today, this has become a new source of income, and it becomes a real incentive to label more and more and more children "at risk". The more at risk, the more dollars the school district can receive.

In the past 5 years, 300 new codes for "mental illnesses" have been added to this [DSM] code book to cover "at risk" academic and non academic situations in school.

Consider the following DSM codes:

Mental Disorder Code # 315.1 "Mathematics Disorder" . . . for the student "at risk" because he/she has tremendous trouble learning math.

Mental Disorder Code # 315.2 "Disorder of Written Expression" . . . for poor Johnny who can't write.

Mental Disorder Code # 315 "Reading Disorder" . . . for Johnny who can't read.

Apply for Medicaid money for Johnny under this DSM "mental illness" code, and you can get money to pay for the tutor for Johnny. But what happens to Johnny and his "data bank entries" that will stay with him forever?

Enter the military? No way, you have been treated in the past for a mental disorder.

Purchase a gun? No way, you have been treated in the past for a mental disorder.

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