Sign a Letter to Congress in Support of Increased Medicaid Matching Funds
Below is the text of a sign-on letter to the Pennsylvania congressional delegation in support of the proposed extension of increased federal Medicaid matching funds (FMAP) for two more quarters, through June 2011.
Add your name to this letter by no later than Monday, March 1, 2010.
February 23, 2010
Senator Robert P. Casey
Senator Arlen Specter
Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation
To the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation:
Last year Congress took a significant step that protected Pennsylvanians from the full effect of the economic downturn through the provision of state fiscal relief. This relief, in the form of enhanced federal Medicaid Matching Percentage (FMAP) and State Fiscal Stabilization funds, has helped provide 2 million Pennsylvanians with health care services, slowed the hemorrhaging of jobs from the state’s safety net hospitals, nursing homes and non-profit human service agencies, and kept thousands of teachers and classroom aids at work in our schools.
Despite some glimmers of recovery, education, health care and services to Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens are once again threatened. We write to urge you to support a two quarter extension of the federal FMAP increase to enable Pennsylvania to preserve services, and jobs, until the recovery strengthens.
Pennsylvania’s budget for fiscal year 2009-10 is the worst in a generation. The Governor and General Assembly cut or eliminated most discretionary programs, and still were unable to avoid cuts that affect vulnerable adults, children and families. Pennsylvania’s current year deficit is expected to grow to $525 million and its proposed spending plan anticipates additional federal fiscal relief. Without that support, we are likely to see deeper cuts in public safety, children’s services and health care programs.
Forty-eight of 50 states have faced budget shortfalls and the ongoing state fiscal crisis could be a drag on the nation’s economic recovery. In January alone, state and local government employment declined by 41,000 jobs. Additional budget cuts will cause additional job losses that will echo through local communities, and slow or stall the economic turnaround.
Economists agree that additional fiscal relief to states is one of the most effective ways to support employment and rebuild the economy. Enhanced FMAP funding has already preserved thousands of jobs in hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and non-profit human service agencies across the Commonwealth. Withdrawing these funds at this critical juncture will only reverse this progress.
We respectfully urge you to support a temporary extension of federal ARRA FMAP funds, at least through Fiscal Year 2011, to enable Pennsylvania to enact a fiscally responsible budget that supports the recovery and maintains vital services for seniors, the vulnerable, and families.
Sign your name to the letter.
