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SB 500 - Under this act, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will maintain a statewide birth to age three system of early intervention services through the first steps program. The statewide system shall include a comprehensive public awareness program to ensure eligible children are identified and evaluated for eligibility. The structure for the delivery of first steps services will be on a regional basis, with the regions to be determined by the department. The department will promulgate rules providing for family cost participation in the first steps program. The family participation will consist of a process to access private and public insurance and a fee for participation set by a sliding scale corresponding with the financial resources of the parents or legal guardians. The sliding scale fee shall contemplate factors such as adjusted gross income and family size, a monthly fee for participation, and a minimum fee of five dollars and a maximum fee of one hundred dollars. No fee will be charged to a family whose income qualifies for Medicaid. Fees will not be applied to a family that is unable to pay and the early intervention services will be provided to these families. Financial ability will be determined by financial documentation provided by the family. Notice of collection procedures, schedule of fees or payments, and guidelines for "inability to pay" shall be made available to parents for eligible children. When funds are used to reimburse the service provider in order to prevent a delay of the provision of services to a child, the funds must be recovered from the public or private source that has ultimate responsibility for payment. Nothing in this act will permit any other state agency that provides medically related services to reduce medical assistance to eligible children. All amounts generated by family cost participation, including fees, co-pays, and insurance reimbursements, will be deposited to the first steps fund created in Section 160.920. The first steps program may be required to pay insurance deductibles and copayments for approved services to eligible children as an incentive to access the family medical insurance. This act also provides that the department of social services shall recognize the first steps established under this act, and shall pay all claims for reimbursement for Medicaid-eligible children to the first steps system. This act also provides that each health carrier or health benefit plan that offers or issues health benefit plans which are issued on or after the effective date of this act shall provide coverage to reimburse the first steps program for early intervention services. Such coverage shall be limited to three thousand dollars per covered child per policy per calendar year, with a maximum of nine thousand dollars over three years. Early intervention services shall be deemed medically necessary. Also, early intervention services for Medicaid-eligible children required under this act shall not be subject to any deductible, coinsurance or co-payment. This act has an emergency clause. ADRIANE CROUSE
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