All States Requested Extra FMAP Funding By Friday Deadline

HHS confirmed that all 50 states and the District of Columbia sent letters to the department requesting the additional enhanced Medicaid (FMAP) funding that was authorized last month and will remain available until June 30, 2011. The FMAP extension, enacted on August 10th, required any governor looking for the funding to formally request it from HHS. The requests from every governor, which were due September 24th, came despite several state leaders' strong opposition to the health care reform law. The funding is not directly related to the reform law, but HHS notes that it “complements” the funding states are already receiving through the act.

The enhanced funding was first authorized in the stimulus package, and would have run out in December without congressional action. A wide-ranging group of stakeholders, including ANCOR, lobbied hard for the extension, and ultimately won a phased-down version championed by GOP Senator Susan Collins (D-ME).

States are eligible to receive a 3.2 percentage point increase in FMAP from January to March, and a 1.2 percent increase from April to June; and additional FMAP increases will be available for each calendar quarter during this period for states whose unemployment rates have risen.