Nursing home advocates join call for extended Medicaid funding for states
Nursing home advocates join call for extended Medicaid funding for states
Two long-term care leaders, along with nearly all U.S. governors, have joined a majority of members of the House of Representatives in urging congressional leaders to extend a temporary increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP).
“The temporary FMAP increase is vital to shielding seniors' ongoing access to the skilled nursing and rehabilitative care they require,” American Health Care Association president and CEO Bruce Yarwood and Alan G. Rosenbloom, president of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, said in a statement Tuesday.
A total of 219 members of the House of Representatives recently sent a similar letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH). (McKnight's, 5/14/10) A group of 47 governors have also implored congressional leaders to move forward with the FMAP extension, noting that the additional funding would help ameliorate state budget woes. The temporary 6.25% FMAP increase is currently set to expire at the end of the year. The extension would continue the increase through June 2011.
