By Dan Goldberg
POLITICO
12/19/2017 01:12 PM EDT
School-based health centers will be carved out of Medicaid managed care until 2021 under an agreement reached between the state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
On Monday, Cuomo vetoed a bill that would have permanently carved the state’s 250 school-based health centers out of the Medicaid managed care model. In his veto message, the governor said the legislation set a “bad precedent” and does not align with his administration’s long-term strategy, but he recognized that these programs need more time to implement care coordination strategies.
School-based health centers — which offer a suite of primary and preventative health care and mental health services at no cost to students in low-income communities — were set to transition from the fee-for-service Medicaid reimbursement model to managed care plans on July 1.
That shift worried administrators and advocates, who feared increased administrative costs would force a reduction in health services.
Roughly 235,000 students attend class at a location with a school-based health center.