By Camie Corrigan, assistant director, federal affairs, N.A.C.H.
Since last December, children’s hospitals, and countless other advocates, have been urging Congress to extend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s enhanced federal funding to support states' Medicaid programs (FMAP) for an additional six months. During the last 8 months, the House and Senate have considered and debated several legislative vehicles that would carry the FMAP extension. Advocates remained focused on urging Congress to pass this extension immediately.
Last week the Senate passed H.R. 1586 which included the FMAP extension and today, in a rare return from August recess, the House voted to pass the measure and it is headed to president for his signature.
Unfortunately, the final provision is not the full $24 billion we initially advocated for and rather includes $16.1 billion for states through June 2011. The final provision phases down the general increase in funding for the FMAP extension from the current across-the-board increase of 6.2 percent to 3.2 percent through March 2011 and then reduces the rate to 1.2 percent through June 2011. Still, the enhanced funds will help stabilize state Medicaid programs and prevent states from making deeper cuts to Medicaid on the backs of providers, such as children’s hospitals.
At a time when our country continues to recover from the downed economy and Medicaid experiences rapid increases in enrollment, the extension of the federal funds will allow children’s hospitals to continue to provide the essential services to children and families who rely on Medicaid.
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