Delayed Congressional Action on extra funding for state Medicaid programs leaves 16 states with Medicaid budget surpluses and 24 states with gaps in Medicaid funding in fiscal 2011, according to a release by the Council of State Governments.
Congress passed the extra funding in August, after almost all states had already completed their budgets for fiscal 2011, which started on Oct. 1, but the new funding level was below the level previously set in the stimulus bill.
Not knowing what Congress would do, 16 states set budgets that did not count on any extra funds, and they now have a total of $7.3 billion extra in their Medicaid budgets. Meanwhile, 24 states set budgets counting on the same level as in the stimulus bill, and they now have a total $1.74 billion Medicaid shortfalls. Information on 10 remaining states was not available.
States that expected higher funding include California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. States that did not expect any extra funding include Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.
States with a shortfall will be forced to either reduce Medicaid spending or find additional state matching funds. For example, Pennsylvania, which is getting 22-30 percent less federal funding than anticipated, announced it would begin furloughing 50 employees to make up some of the gap. States that are now getting more federal funds than anticipated could move some of the extra money into state general funds to spend on other areas or use these state funds to pull down even more federal Medicaid.
However, nearly all states report enrollment is growing faster than expected due to the slow economic recovery, so it is likely many states will face deficits in their Medicaid budgets by the end of FY 2011.
Read the Council of State Governments release on Medicaid.
Read the Council of State Governments report on Medicaid.
Read more coverage on Medicaid.
- More than 50M Americans on Medicaid, 16M More Due under Reform Law
- House Sends $16B in Federal Medicaid Assistance to President for Signature
- Kentucky's St. Elizabeth Healthcare Boosts Medicaid Sign-up Rates and Avoids Bad Debt
Congress passed the extra funding in August, after almost all states had already completed their budgets for fiscal 2011, which started on Oct. 1, but the new funding level was below the level previously set in the stimulus bill.
Not knowing what Congress would do, 16 states set budgets that did not count on any extra funds, and they now have a total of $7.3 billion extra in their Medicaid budgets. Meanwhile, 24 states set budgets counting on the same level as in the stimulus bill, and they now have a total $1.74 billion Medicaid shortfalls. Information on 10 remaining states was not available.
States that expected higher funding include California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. States that did not expect any extra funding include Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.
States with a shortfall will be forced to either reduce Medicaid spending or find additional state matching funds. For example, Pennsylvania, which is getting 22-30 percent less federal funding than anticipated, announced it would begin furloughing 50 employees to make up some of the gap. States that are now getting more federal funds than anticipated could move some of the extra money into state general funds to spend on other areas or use these state funds to pull down even more federal Medicaid.
However, nearly all states report enrollment is growing faster than expected due to the slow economic recovery, so it is likely many states will face deficits in their Medicaid budgets by the end of FY 2011.
Read the Council of State Governments release on Medicaid.
Read the Council of State Governments report on Medicaid.
Read more coverage on Medicaid.
- More than 50M Americans on Medicaid, 16M More Due under Reform Law
- House Sends $16B in Federal Medicaid Assistance to President for Signature
- Kentucky's St. Elizabeth Healthcare Boosts Medicaid Sign-up Rates and Avoids Bad Debt