Today, the Trump Administration took
steps to implement provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response
Act (Public Law 116-127) that provide states with enhanced federal Medicaid
funding during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) national emergency,
including the release of implementation guidance.
All Medicaid programs are jointly
funded between the state and the federal governments where the federal government
pays states for a specified percentage of program expenditures, commonly
referred to as the Federal Medical Assistance
Percentage (FMAP). Section 6008 of the Families First Coronavirus
Response Act provides for a possible 6.2 percent increase in the FMAP for
each state and territory, including the District of Columbia, American
Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico,
and the United States Virgin Islands. This increase will be
retroactive to January 1, 2020 and will continue through the end of the
quarter in which the public health emergency for COVID-19 ends.
All state Medicaid agencies are
eligible for the increased FMAP as long as they adhere to the conditions
outlined in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The guidance
document released today provides answers questions on various aspects of the
FMAP increase to ensure states know how to best obtain and utilize this
funding. This guidance
answers critical questions for states, including:
·
The timeframe the increased funding
will be available,
·
Which costs are eligible for the
enhanced funding,
·
The conditions under which states can
claim the funds,
·
And the procedures and documentation
requirements for access the enhanced funding
As outlined in the guidance,
enhanced funding will be available to states almost immediately. For grant
awards covering period beginning January 1, 2020 through March 31, 2020,
states will receive the funds in their Payment Management System (PMS)
account no later than tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
The information released today furthers CMS’s
commitment to providing our state partners the resources they need in this
trying time, and earlier CMS actions in response to the COVID-19 crisis are
all part of ongoing White House Coronavirus Task Force efforts. To keep up
with the important work the Task Force is doing in response to COVID-19,
click here: www.coronavirus.gov. For a complete
and updated list of CMS actions, guidance, and other information in
response to the COVID-19 virus, please visit the Current
Emergencies Website. Additionally, CMS has launched a
dedicated, Medicaid.gov,
COVID-19 resource page that will be continually updated with
relevant information.
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