Randi Weingarten: Senate Health Care Bill: Medicaid Matters for Public Schools | Time.com

Senate Health Care Bill: Medicaid Matters for Public Schools | Time.com:

The Senate Health Care Bill Would 'Rip Away' Supports In Schools

Randi Weingarten and Daniel Domenech

What does Medicaid have to do with schools? The answer is, plenty.

For millions of children, the health screenings and services they receive at school serve as a critical lifeline. Schools use Medicaid funding to provide basic health screenings for vision, hearing and mental health problems. For many children, this is their only interaction with a health professional all year.

Seventy-eight percent of school districts use Medicaid funding to hire school nurses, social workers and psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and other health professionals.

Medicaid funding is especially vital for children with special needs; it ensures schools have the resources for wheelchairs, feeding tubes, specialized playground equipment, medicine, and equipment to assist with seeing and hearing, as well as the staff to support these students. And for children with asthma and other chronic conditions, Medicaid funding means there’s always a health professional onSenate Health Care Bill: Medicaid Matters for Public Schools | Time.com: