States want Congress to keep extra Medicaid money flowing

Illinois will face a $750 million shortfall in the fiscal year beginning in July if Congress doesn't extend increased Medicaid funding, originally part of last year's economic stimulus, Illinois Statehouse News reports. "The increased Medicaid reimbursements stand as a national issue as the recession lingers. Thirty states have crafted budgets for the fiscal year set to begin July 1 based on an extension of the increased payments, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures" (Massingale, 6/16).

Kansas Health Institute: "An effort in the U.S. Senate to add back $24.2 billion in federal Medicaid assistance for states, including about $131 million for Kansas, was rejected today on a procedural test vote that sent Democratic leaders back to the drawing board. Republicans, including Kansas U.S. Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, opposed added spending in H.R. 4213, because it would boost the budget deficit" (6/16).

GateHouse News Service/Dedham News Transcript: "Legislation that includes $608 million in extended federal health care funding for Massachusetts failed in the U.S. Senate on a 45-52 test vote Wednesday, but the bill is still alive and could win more votes depending on the outcome of continuing policy talks in Washington. ... The funds Massachusetts officials are seeking would come from a six-month extension of a program that originated in the 2009 stimulus act, currently set to expire in December. While the federal government normally picked up 50 percent of states' Medicaid tab, the stimulus law increased the federal government's share to 62 percent" (Norton and Cheney, 6/16). 

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.