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Medicaid Payment

The Minnesota Chemical Dependency Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We are a specialized treatment program for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing and utilize American Sign Language. Our program is able to accept a variety of funding sources to pay for our program. Clients who have Medicaid or similar types of funding through their home state may need seek approval for reimbursement to an out-of-state agency to access the Program. States may have practices that only include payment within the state. However, the Program is able to assist clients, families and referring persons in advocating for an exception to these procedures. In the past families and clients have advocated to Medicaid offices for payment to our program. Families have been successful in a number cases and clients have entered our treatment program from nearly every state in the nation. In some instances, a contract exists between our program and some Medicaid offices (NJ for example). Families and clients may contact our office to see if a contract is in place.

Listed below are some suggestions for you to use when advocating for Medicaid to pay for our treatment center.

1. Contact your states Medicaid office and determine the appropriate office or personnel to speak with regarding this matter. The local Service for Deaf and Hard of Hearing offices may also be a helpful resource when advocating for services.

2. Determine Medicaid’s willingness to pay for Chemical Dependency treatment within your state. In some instances Medicaid is unwilling to pay for any CD treatment.

3. Determine the availability of treatment centers in your state accessible to Deaf and Hard of Hearing. If no such program exists you may discuss with the Medicaid personnel the importance of an accessible treatment center and any ADA issues that may apply.

4. Discuss with the personnel in the Medicaid office the expense of hiring interpreters for treatment. Generally interpreters can cost between $40.00 to $80.00 dollars an hour. It may actually be cheaper to refer a client out of state.

5. Other items that can help obtain a referral is to mention particular circumstances surrounding the clients case. For example: the person was court ordered to treatment, child protection issues, doctors referrals, etc.

6. Be persistent and record all names of people in which you are speaking with. This will greatly assist us when we are negotiating rates or obtaining a written letter of authorization.

If at anytime additional information is required from our program or a letter is needed detailing our treatment center we would be happy to offer this assistance. We are also available to negotiate rates and length of stay with the Medicaid offices. Please contact us if you have any questions.

 

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