School districts determine the types of health services and health professionals needed in schools, as well as how to deliver and pay for these services. This policy brief outlines four models for delivering school-based health services and explains who is responsible for billing Medicaid under each one. Understanding the different Medicaid…

The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) believes school nursing services that are reimbursed in other healthcare environments should also be reimbursed in the school setting. The registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as the school nurse) bridges education and healthcare and delivers quality, cost-effective…

In 2018, West Virginia teachers staged a statewide strike which lasted almost two weeks and included schools across all 55 countywide districts. The main reported strike issues for West Virginia teachers included cuts to their healthcare coverage by the state and relatively low salaries. Prior to the strike, West Virginia teachers ranked 48th in…

CUPA-HR's survey of benefits for higher education employees has been conducted since 2003. Prior to 2020-21, data were collected on healthcare benefits in odd years and non-healthcare benefits in even years. This year, we collected data on all benefits: healthcare benefits, including healthcare plans and wellness programs; and non-healthcare…

The recent passage of H.R. 1 by a partisan Congress chooses billionaires over babies, and puts children in unprecedented peril. This Issue Brief describes some of the many ways that H.R. 1 will hurt children in the U.S. and even around the world in the very near term and in the years to come, including that it: (1) Cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid…

The House has passed a budget reconciliation bill that supporters are referring to as a "one big, beautiful bill." However, the authors of this Issue Brief believe that this budget bill threatens the health and nutrition of millions of children and pushes millions of children into poverty in order to provide tax credits for corporations,…

When Coloradans get their ballots in the mail this fall, they could potentially vote on two measures that would have disastrous consequences for Colorado kids and families if passed. Initiatives 108 and 50 would dramatically limit the resources available for critical services and programs that support children and their families at the state and…

Ms. Braun, a new Special Education Director in the Baso Unified School District, is under pressure to curtail district expenditures on special education services. In her quest to understand why special education enrollment has increased, Ms. Braun learns about the challenges students face when accessing physical and mental health services at…

Children in the United States are facing unprecedented mental health challenges. In October 2021, First Focus on Children joined other leading children's health organizations to declare a national state of emergency regarding child mental health in the Sound the Alarm campaign, and in December 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory…

Along with the late 1980s Medicaid expansion for pregnant women and children, states implemented multiple reforms to reduce administrative burdens and facilitate access to Medicaid and prenatal care. We use National Vital Statistics birth data from 1985 to 1994 and a difference-in-discontinuities approach to compare the effectiveness of these…

Before COVID-19 entered our lives, colleges and universities were already facing enormous pressures on their bottom lines. Sixty percent of higher education institutions (HEIs) missed their fall 2019 enrollment goals, according to a recent "Chronicle of Higher Education" story. Changing demographics and drops in international enrollments…

The transition to a financialized economy has had a devastating impact on workers and consumers and exacerbated wealth and income inequality in the United States and around the world. In this article, the authors explain financialization, a two-fold economic strategy whereby individual corporations invest in the financial market- rather than make…

Dual Language Learners (DLLs) are young children who have at least one parent who speaks a language other than English at home, meaning when they enroll in English-speaking preschool, kindergarten, or other early childhood programs, their brains are using multiple language systems that are developing at different rates. Research shows that to…

The purpose of this report is to investigate paid time off, tuition benefits, and retirement benefits offered to higher ed employees. We surveyed 419 higher education institutions on the paid time off, tuition benefits, and retirement benefits they offer their employees. Key findings include the following. Only about one-third of institutions…

The well-being of Texas children is essential to the future of our state. Recent years have presented significant challenges for Texas' youngest residents, particularly in areas of economic stability, health, and education. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Texas declined from 43rd to 45th in national rankings for overall child…