Congress Marks Up Money Follows the Person Renewal Bill

Following a Congressional hearing and briefing last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce (which has jurisdiction on Medicaid issues) voted to send H.R. 5306, the EMPOWER Care Act, to the full House floor for a vote. ANCOR has been advocating this bill, sponsored by U.S. Representatives Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), because it renews the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program and will help lead the bill to passage during our October Policy Summit. While the bill language originally renewed the program for 5 years, to improve the bill’s prospects in this election year it has been amended to a 1year renewal. The revised bill is expected to pass Congress in the lame duck session, potentially fostering more Congressional interest in I/DD issues after the election. ANCOR will seek to use this interest to advocate for a more long-term solution for MFP, as well as other key I/DD proposals.