Washington, DC – Noting that the National Governors Association (NGA) finds eighteen states have reported state budget shortfalls totaling $14 billion for FY2008 and seventeen states have projected shortfalls of $31 billion for FY2009, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) today said a temporary increase in states’ Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) would serve as a needed insurance policy to protect vulnerable seniors’ future care needs as states brace for an economic downturn.
“We are pleased to see there remains the possibility of including an FMAP boost in the pending economic stimulus package, and we urge congressional leaders to view its inclusion as a reasonable insurance policy to protect the vital care needs of America’s most vulnerable seniors in the face of challenging state budget conditions,” said AHCA President and CEO Bruce Yarwood.
Citing the worsening state fiscal conditions, the NGA stated on Wednesday that,
“The nation’s governors strongly support a combination of a $6 billion block grant and $6 billion in increased Medicaid funding to be included in any stimulus package…. The increased Medicaid funds should come through increasing each state’s federal medical assistance percentage… and holding states harmless from scheduled FMAP decreases for the four fiscal quarters beginning April 1, 2008. The block grant funds should be distributed to states on a population formula based on the most recent data available. There is a precedent in that a similar package of $20 billion was enacted in 2003. This policy meets the criteria of being timely, targeted and temporary.”
“The situation remains extremely fluid in terms of the economic stimulus package components, and we intend to ensure our policymakers understand the bipartisan perspective offered by the nation’s Governors – and remember why an FMAP increase in 2003 was good public policy then, and would be good public policy in 2008 in regard to protecting seniors’ access to quality health care,” Yarwood concluded.
The American Health Care Association represents nearly 11,000 non-profit and proprietary facilities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional and compassionate care provided daily by millions of caring employees to 1.5 million of our nation's frail, elderly and disabled citizens who live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, subacute centers and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. For more information, please visit www.ahca.org.