Friday, Sept. 10, United States Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) requested that the Department of Health and Human Services determine whether Gov. Haley Barbour’s plan to redirect Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funds to the state’s rainy day fund is consistent with legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on August 10, 2010.
“As you know, when Congress reconvened more than four weeks ago to extend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s temporary Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), the intent was to keep vital health care and education programs solvent and provide the neediest Americans, those without adequate healthcare and children, a safety net during these difficult economic times,” Thompson wrote.
“The legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama guarantees that the state of Mississippi will receive approximately $151 million in Medicaid this fiscal year. That same law, P.L. 111-226, explicitly prohibits funds that are designated for FMAP to be used directly or indirectly, to establish, restore or supplement a rainy day fund,” Thompson asserted.
The FMAP extension was included in the Education, Jobs, and Medicaid Assistance Act. The legislation extends the increased Federal Medicaid matching rates under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through June 30, 2011. The funds are provided to help Mississippi handle the expected increase of people who will be eligible for Medicaid.
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