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Stimulus Bill means more money for Local Education Agencies participating in Medicaid
April 28th, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, also known as the “stimulus package”), local education agencies participating in the Medicaid reimbursement program will see a temporary net increase of from five to ten percentage points for claims generated between October of 2008 and December 31 of 2010.
The ARRA increase comes in the form of an add-on benefit to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP). FMAP is the federal government’s share of a state’s expenditures for Medicaid. Traditionally, FMAP is determined annually based on a formula that uses the average per capita income for each state for the three most recent calendar years, the ARRA adds state unemployment rates to this formula. This formula is designed to pay a higher FMAP to states with lower per capital income relative to the national average.
This increase will allow participating local education agencies to retain a larger portion of their federal Medicaid reimbursements during the period the FMAP increase is in effect. Because the increase covers claims generated back to October 1, 2008, the increase may be available through amended claims.