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SNAP Asks PA Senators for COVID-19 Help

Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals need help with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 public health emergency, SNAP wrote yesterday in a letter to Pennsylvania senators Pat Toomey and Bob Casey.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logoIn its letter, SNAP asked the senators to advocate:

  • An additional $100 billion for hospitals.
  • Forgiveness for money provided to hospitals through the federal CARES Act’s Accelerated and Advance Payment Program.
  • An increase in the federal Medicaid matching rate (FMAP).
  • An increase in states’ Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) allotments and a delay in the scheduled implementation of Medicaid DSH allotment cuts to the states.
  • Action to prevent implementation of the Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation.
  • A moratorium on changes in hospital eligibility for the 340B prescription drug discount program, Medicare indirect medical education program, Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) program, and other programs.

See SNAP’s letter here.

GAO Suggests Changes in Federal Medicaid Funding Formula

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has recommended changes in how the federal government matches state Medicaid funding for its share of overall Medicaid spending.
gaoIn testimony submitted to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, GAO reminded Congress that in the past

…GAO has examined multiple concerns regarding how the FMAP [federal medical assistance formula] allocates funds among states, including during times of economic downturn, and has suggested improvements.

In particular, the GAO is concerned about how the FMAP formula’s use of per capita income in targeting federal Medicaid matching funds may not accurate reflect economic conditions at the state level, especially during economic downturns, and fail to respond to states’ individual needs during those downturns.
In response to these concerns, the GAO suggested

…that Congress could consider an FMAP formula that targets variable state Medicaid needs and provides automatic, timely, and temporary assistance in response to national economic downturns.

For a closer look at what the GAO investigated, what it concluded, and what it recommended to Congress, go here to see the GAO report Medicaid: Changes to Funding Formula Could Improve Allocation of Funds to States.

2016-02-18T06:00:32+00:00February 18th, 2016|Uncategorized|Comments Off on GAO Suggests Changes in Federal Medicaid Funding Formula
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