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TennCare clarifies school medication payments, says $750,000 tied to ADHD distribution
Summary
TennCare told the committee it does not reimburse for mere distribution of oral medication in schools; agency analysis found about $750,000 in impact largely related to ADHD medication and TennCare will provide a grace period for school districts to comply with clarified policy.
TennCare Director Steven Smith told lawmakers the agency never intended to reimburse for only the distribution of oral medication in schools, saying the policy was clarified after analytics revealed some districts and a particular vendor were receiving payment for narrowly defined distribution services. "We don't do that in any other setting," Smith said.
Smith said the most common category affected was ADHD medication and that the agency's drill-down showed about a $750,000 impact tied to those distributions; he said TennCare corrected policy and will give a grace period for school districts to adjust. Committee members asked TennCare to provide a final accounting of the total payments and the timeline for the policy change.
