While the current enhancement lasts until Dec. 31, many state fiscal years begin July 1, the NGA letter noted. Without assurance of the funds, states would have to “act now to reduce pending budget gaps by enacting further cuts in their workforce and core services.”
The House last month passed a $23 billion extension, through June 2011, of the so-called Federal Medical Assistance Percentage as part of a package of measures, including a physician fee fix. But in two votes, the Senate failed to pass the package and finally took the fee fix out of the package passing it separately last Friday and leaving the FMAP extension in limbo.
Read the NGA letter on Medicaid funding.
