Children's Medical Services

Mission

The mission of the Children’s Medical Services (CMS) Program is to ensure that there is a community-based, coordinated, family-focused, culturally appropriate, comprehensive system of quality specialty health care services available for Georgia’s children and youth with eligible chronic medical conditions from birth to age 21. CMS is intended to ensure the provision of specialty health care services to children and youth with special health care needs who are residents of the State of Georgia and live in low income households. CMS works to provide improved health outcomes for children with special health care needs by coordinating their access to affordable quality specialty health care in our communities and by using the resources in a responsible manner.

Overview

CMS is Georgia’s state and federally funded Maternal and Child Health (Title V) Children with Special Health Care Needs Program. Eligibility for the program includes medical and financial requirements. The financial requirements are updated annually. Families with incomes greater than 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) through 236% of the FPL will be required to participate in the cost of care for their child. Children who are Medicaid or PeachCare enrolled, who receive SSI, and/or who are in foster care are financially eligible for CMS services.

CMS offers care coordination by nursing and professional staff for every child enrolled in the program. Every child enrolled in CMS receives periodic home visits from CMS staff. Medical and surgical treatment services may be available through private providers. These services may include hospitalization, doctors’ appointments, durable medical equipment, medicines, and supplies for the eligible medical condition(s).

In CMS, children from birth to age 21 with eligible chronic medical conditions receive comprehensive, coordinated specialty care. The medical eligibility includes, but is not limited to the following conditions:

• Asthma, cystic fibrosis, and other lung disorders
• Some hearing disorders
• Neurological and neurosurgery disorders including seizures, benign tumors, hydrocephalus, and others
• Orthopedic and/or neuromuscular disorders including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, scoliosis, clubfeet, congenital or traumatic amputations of limbs, and others
• Visual disorders including cataracts, glaucoma, strabismus, and others
• Diabetes and other endocrine and genetic disorders
• Craniofacial anomalies (including cleft lip/palate)
• Congenital cardiac conditions

To find the CMS program in your area, click here.

Helpful Links…

Parent to Parent of Georgia
http://p2pga.org

Provide services to children and youth with disabilities and their families. Services include an on-line data base of various resources, such as respite care, child care, or support groups, that are available in local areas, training sessions for parents on a wide variety of topics and a parent-to-parent matching program. Parent to Parent serves as the central office for:

• Family to Family (F2F) Health Information Center (HIC)
• Parent Training and Information Center (PTI)
• Family Support 360 Project (Navigator 360 Project)
• Babies Can’t Wait Central Directory

Five new fact sheets for families have been released by P2P and Children’s Medical Services (CMS). Topics include Medical home, Georgia's CMS program, Health Care Finance, Supplemental Security Income, and Health Transition.