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FMAP Still Not Passed by Congress |
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FMAP Still Not Passed
by Congress
Last night, another
attempt by U.S. Senate Democrats to pass an “extenders” bill that includes an
extension of enhanced federal Medicaid funding (FMAP) came up short. The FMAP
extension is worth more than $600 million to Ohio, $24 billion nationally, and
is the American Health Care Association’s top short-term legislative priority.
After neither the original extenders bill crafted by Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) nor a Republican alternative attracted enough votes
to end debate, a process called cloture, Chairman Baucus introduced a revised
version of the legislation that would increase the federal budget deficit less
than his first bill. This effort resulted in last night’s vote, and its failure
sent the Democrats back to the drawing board. The Senate’s difficulty in moving
an extenders bill, despite heavy pressure for such provisions as the FMAP
extension and postponing cuts to the Medicare physician fee schedule, stems
from concerns about deficit spending. These concerns were not as prominent
earlier when both the House and the Senate passed differing versions of the extenders
bill, but have come to the forefront as the mid-term election nears. The
Democratic extenders packages contained both the FMAP extension and the RUGs IV
delay elimination; the Republican bill did not. No further action on the
legislation is expected until after the weekend.
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