On February 7, House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Congressman Peter King (R-NY), joined by House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Congressman Tom Reynolds (R-NY), introduced legislation to provide a temporary increase in the Federal Medicaid matching rate for states. The temporary increase, which would equal a 2.95% across-the-board increase in the Federal matching rate for five calendar quarters—the last two quarters of 2008 and the first three quarters of 2009—is designed to enable states to avoid cutting their Medicaid programs during the current economic downturn. The benefits of the bill would accrue only to states that have not passed legislation to restrict Medicaid eligibility since January 1, 2008, or, if they have passed such legislation, that repeal the new restrictions. Congressman King and others had urged inclusion of this provision in the economic stimulus package approved recently by the House and Senate but were rebuffed as a result of strong opposition from the White House. 

GNYHA is extremely grateful to the members of Congress who have sponsored and cosponsored this important legislation and looks forward to working with them so that the bill can be enacted this year. The bill would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in relief to the financially strapped State budgets in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.