Yes. Medi-Cal will pay for and provide a health aide to attend school with your child if the following requirements are met:
- Your child has an IEP;
- The IEP considers the less restrictive placement for your child to be in school;
- Your child is eligible for Medi-Cal or Medi-Cal is already providing your child with an aide in order for your child to receive “life-supporting medical services” at home.
If your child has an IEP and they are eligible for Medi-Cal and would be home because of their health condition, they are entitled to a home health aide funded by the California Health Services to accompany them during the school day and traveling to and from school if they are already receiving the aide through Medi-Cal for life supporting services during that period.[1] Life-supporting medical services means services to a student with a disability who is dependent on a medical technology or device that compensates for loss of the normal use of vital bodily function and who requires daily skilled nursing care to divert further disability or death.[2]
For special education students who do not meet the above requirements to have Medi-Cal pay for a home health aide to attend a student’s school, those students may still be eligible for in-school assistance by a qualified school personnel (i.e., school nurse, physician, etc.) who is trained in providing “specialized physical health care services”.[3] “Specialized health care services” are health services prescribed by the student’s physician and which services are necessary during the school day to enable your child to attend school.[4] Examples of such services may include but are not limited to: administering medication, changing or monitoring gastric tube feeding, catheterization, and other services that require medically related training.[5] See Chapter 14, Information on the Rights of Students with Significant Health Conditions.]