The Minnesota Department of Education has been approved to participate in the Medicaid direct certification project that offers Medicaid direct certification of students who qualify for free and reduced meals in place for the 2022-23 school year. With this approval, students who are on Medicaid will be directly certified into districts MARSS systems. It is expected that this direct certification will start in the fall of 2022. This has been in place for SNAP-qualified families for some time. MREA is excited about this news, as it will most likely help districts bring in more basic skills revenue.
One of MREA’s goals is to eliminate the need for districts to chase down free and reduced meals forms from parents. Although Medicaid direct certification is a big step in the right direction, districts will still have to collect forms for students who do not qualify for Medicaid/SNAP but do qualify for free and reduced meals. MREA is working with the state to find a way for districts to be able to identify these students who don’t qualify for SNAP/Medicaid, but still would qualify for free and reduced meals. Once districts can identify the students, we can work on a solution to get these students directly certified as well.
