HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	134
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

URGING THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TO INCREASE THE FEDERAL MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PERCENTAGE TO HAWAII.

     WHEREAS, Medicaid, the nation's public health insurance program for low-income individuals, serves nearly sixty million low-income Americans and is administered at the federal level by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; and

     WHEREAS, according to a publication of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation dated March 2011, Medicaid covers:

(1)  More than one in three births;

(2)  Eight million persons with disabilities;

(3)  One in four poor, nonelderly adults; and

(4)  Nearly nine million low-income Medicare beneficiaries; and

     WHEREAS, under this jointly-funded federal-state program, the federal government pays states for a specified percentage of program expenditures called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, which is the federal government's share of a state's expenditures for Medicaid services; and

     WHEREAS, the Social Security Act requires the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to calculate and publish the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages each year; and

WHEREAS, Federal Medical Assistance Percentages are used in determining the amount of federal matching funds for state expenditures for assistance payments for certain social services, and state medical and medical insurance expenditures; and are adjusted for each state on a three-year cycle to account for fluctuations in the economy and are published annually in the Federal Register; and

     WHEREAS, states are reimbursed by the federal government for part of the cost of providing medical assistance services under Medicaid, with each state administering its own Medicaid program while the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services monitors the state-run programs and establishes requirements for service delivery, quality, funding, and eligibility standards; and

WHEREAS, Medicaid reimbursement rates are inadequate to cover the full costs of medical services provided by physicians and Medicaid pays physicians much less than private health insurers or Medicare for the same services; and

     WHEREAS, physicians most often cited inadequate reimbursement as the reason for not accepting Medicaid patients, together with delayed reimbursement and billing requirements; and

     WHEREAS, furthermore, low Medicaid reimbursements have led to fewer participating health care providers who service Medicaid patients and financial hardship to some providers; and

     WHEREAS, the federal government should increase the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage to Hawaii to enable adequate reimbursement and funding of medical assistance to Medicaid recipients in the State; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the Senate concurring, that the United States Department of Health and Human Services is urged to increase the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage to Hawaii; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of the
United States Social Security Administration, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the state Director of Human Services.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Medicaid Reimbursement; Federal Medical Assistance Percentage