The good news for Medicaid recipients as the 83% Federal Medicaid rate is extended by three days following President Biden’s recent signing of Public Law 117-180
PNC’s Althea Engman has more..
On Monday, House Rule 6833 passed the House and became Public Law. An amendment was made to Section 103 of Division D Title I to extend the 83% Medicaid FMAP Rate from December 13, 2022, to December 16, 2022.
Back in September, members of Congress from the U.S. Territories collaborated in a letter to urge House leadership to extend the Medicaid FMAP Rate for the territories and amend the original end date.
Additionally, according to the Medicaid and MIP Expenditure and Demographics Report, 44,683 people from Guam are receiving Medicaid benefits.
Senator Telena Nelson has expressed that “The 83% Medicaid FMAP Rate extension is critical to ensuring our people get the healthcare they need. This extension will ease the burdens our working families continue to face”
Over the past decade, Congress temporarily increased federal funding for the territories’ Medicaid Programs, for example, in the federal fiscal year 2021 Guam’s ceiling was $129.7 million.
According to medicaid.gov, “Unlike the 50 states and the District of Columbia, where the federal government will match all Medicaid expenditures at the appropriate federal matching assistance percentage rate for that state, in Guam, the FMAP is applied until the Medicaid ceiling funds and any other specified federal funds are exhausted.
Nelson says, “Thank you to our members of Congress who recognize the crucial needs of the territories while we continue to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession,”
Reporting for PNC News
I’m Althea Engman
