Financing

The temporary boost in federal Medicaid funding enacted as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) will soften the economic blow of COVID-19 on states, but is unlikely to fully offset state revenue declines or forestall budget shortfalls stemming from the pandemic, finds a new KFF analysis. The…

This brief examines how much fiscal relief states can expect from the increase in the Medicaid FMAP under FFCRA under different assumptions about the duration of the relief, how the FMAP increase provides broad fiscal relief to states and the factors that affect how much relief is available across states.

Half of the 14 donor governments analyzed in the study decreased their spending on global HIV efforts from 2018 to 2019; six increased; and one held steady. Donor government funding supports HIV care and treatment, prevention and other services in low- and middle-income countries.

This data note analyzes federal Medicaid outlays before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the one year since the onset of the pandemic, federal Medicaid outlays totaled $500.8 billion and grew by 19.5%, compared to 6.3% growth in the one year before the pandemic.

Following several years of declining or flat enrollment growth, states expect Medicaid enrollment and spending each to jump by more than 8 percent in fiscal year 2021, chiefly due to a slumping economy amid the pandemic and federal conditions to maintain coverage to access enhanced federal matching funds, according to…

Many states that shared budget projections in response to a new KFF survey of state Medicaid officials report that they expect to see Medicaid budget shortfalls due to rising Medicaid spending and enrollment as people lose jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic and more people enroll in the government health insurance…

The coronavirus pandemic has generated both a public health crisis and an economic crisis, with major implications for Medicaid, a countercyclical program. During economic downturns, more people enroll in Medicaid, increasing program spending at the same time state tax revenues may be falling. To help support states as enrollment in Medicaid grows and ensure existing enrollees maintain continuous coverage, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) authorized a 6.2 percentage point increase in the federal match rate (“FMAP”) (retroactive to January 1, 2020) available if states meet certain “maintenance of eligibility” (MOE) requirements. This brief provides some early insights into the current picture of Medicaid spending and enrollment, as Congress considers providing additional fiscal relief through the federal Medicaid match rate.

This brief analyzes the distribution of $50 billion in CARES Act funding for providers and shows that the distribution formula selected by the Department of Health and Human Services favored hospitals with a relatively high share of revenue from private insurance. Hospitals that see a smaller share of patients with private insurance and instead see more patients with Medicare or Medicaid received less funding per hospital bed.

This policy watch post discusses the latest Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund solvency projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which show the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt Medicare’s financial outlook, and foreshadow the tough choices facing the next President and Congress.