The Children with Medical Handicaps Program (CMH) is a health care program in the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). CMH links families of children with special health care needs to a network of quality providers and helps families obtain payment for the services their children need.
CMH's mission is to assure, through the development and support of high quality, coordinated systems, that children with special health care needs and their families obtain comprehensive care and services that are family centered, community based and culturally sensitive.
CMH is a state-administered program that operates within ODH. CMH receives funding for services from the federal Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, state general revenue funds, county tax funds, third-party reimbursements and donations. CMH promotes early identification of children with handicapping conditions and treatment of those children by appropriate health care providers.
Major components of the program include:
- conducting quality assurance activities to establish standards of care and to determine unmet needs of children with handicaps and their families
- funding services for the diagnosis and treatment of medically eligible conditions
- collaborating with public health nurses and local health departments to assist in increasing access to care
- supporting service coordination for children with selected diagnoses
- assisting families to access and utilize appropriate sources of payment for services for their child