19 members of Congress call for House Leadership to increase federal match for Medicaid

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Deb Haaland (NM-01) is leading a call for immediate relief for state Medicaid programs to increase health care access. With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping through the country, more residents qualify for Medicaid increasing the financial burden for state governments. In a letter to U.S. House leadership, Haaland and eighteen members of Congress called for an increase to the federal match for Medicaid to increase access to health care and ensure states have the resources to manage increased demand.

In the letter, the members wrote, "Medicaid provides a vital health care safety net for more than 72 million Americans and can only effectively function with the help of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for state Medicaid expenditures. Medicaid remains one of the single largest expenditures in state budgets every year and the cost continues to increase alongside prescription drug prices."

Specifically, the members are calling for:

* Enhancing the federal Medicaid match by 5.8 percentage points, to a total of 12 percentage points when combined with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act's (FFCRA) 6.2 percentage point enhancement with the same crucial maintenance of effort requirements provided in FFRCA;

* A federal match for state Medicaid administrative activities increase to 75 percent; and

* Enhancements to also apply directly to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Full letter to U.S. House leadership is available here http://haaland.house.gov/sites/haaland.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/Letter_HouseLeadership-MedicaidMatchEnhancement_04242020.pdf.

The letter was also signed by U.S. House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro and Representatives Shelia Jackson Lee, Steve Cohen, Raul M. Grijalva, Abigail D. Spanberger, Andre Carson, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Denny Heck, Jesus G. "Chuy" Garcia, Jahana Hayes, Nanette Diaz Barragan, Lloyd Doggett, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Dina Titus, Chellie Pingree, David E. Price, Adam Smith, and Alma S. Adams, Ph.D.

Read this original document at: https://haaland.house.gov/media/press-releases/haaland-leads-call-immediate-relief-state-medicaid-programs-increase-health