Extend emergency Medicaid

By Jack Hatch

With Medicaid at the center of much debate on Capitol Hill, it is important to acknowledge that a key provision of the economic stimulus bill passed in 2009 that provided temporary emergency Medicaid funding for states has had significant impact on the lives of Iowa's most vulnerable: our children and our seniors.

Unfortunately, Congress failed to pass before Memorial Day an extension of this vital provision to protect our fraying eldercare safety net. At stake is $206.3 million in federal funds that can be used to protect the access to care for children and elders alike.

Now more than ever, we need Sen. Chuck Grassley and the Iowa congressional delegation to help get this done.

As part of the economic stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Congress enacted a temporary increase in the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for all states in an effort to protect vulnerable populations in the midst of our deep recession. According to Gov. Chet Culver, this law has had tremendous positive impact in Iowa.

An extension of the temporary Medicaid funds is essential to protect the care of nearly 26,000 patients cared for in our state's nursing facilities each day and the jobs of the more than 30,000 dedicated and caring employees.

Specifically, the FMAP increase has been vital to shielding seniors' ongoing access to the skilled nursing and rehabilitative care they require. Considering the squeeze on seniors' care and facility operations caused by federal Medicare cuts of nearly $27 billion over 10 years - passed in Washington in just the past seven months - this Medicaid assistance serves as the critical difference to protect both seniors and the jobs of the front line caregivers.

Unfortunately, however, the FMAP increase expires Dec. 31, in the middle of Iowa's budgetary year. It is essential for Congress to act before the beginning of our budget year Thursday and vote to extend the enhanced FMAP by six months.

A recent national poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted by the highly regarded Mark Mellman found nearly two-thirds of voters “favor the federal government providing additional funding to the states to prevent state cuts to Medicaid.” And this support crosses party lines.

I urge the Iowa congressional delegation to take swift action to help pass this emergency Medicaid relief measure immediately.

State Sen. Jack Hatch represents central Des Moines and serves as an assistant majority leader and chair of the Health and Human Services Budget Subcommittee. Comments: jack.hatch@legis.state.ia.us