All States Have Requested Extended FMAP Funding, HHS Says - October 5, 2010

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has confirmed that all 50 states and the District of Columbia have applied for an extended Federal Medical Assistance Program (FMAP) increase from January through June 2011. The FMAP increase, recently extended by H.R. 1586 - the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act, required states to actively request additional funding, which some states appeared reluctant to do given their opposition to health care reform. Despite such concerns, however, all states have applied for the funding, meaning they will receive a 3.2 percentage point FMAP increase for the first additional quarter (January - March 2011) and 1.2 percentage points for the second quarter (April - June 2011). States may be eligible for an additional FMAP bump if their unemployment rate has increased.