House offers stimulus package with more Medicaid spending

The House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 15 issued the outline for an $825 billion stimulus package which includes several provisions relating to Medicare and Medicaid.

The proposal (for which actual legislative text is still being written) would provide $8.6 bilion to provide 100 percent federal funding to states through 2010 for optional state Medicaid coverage of individuals and their dependents who are involunitarily unemployed and whose income is no higher than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

The proposal also would provide $87 billion to states through the end of 2010 by increasing the federal share of Medicaid reimbursement to states, with additional relief tied to rates of uemployment.

The outline also notes that the legislation would extend the moratorium on Medicaid and Medicare regulations through Oct. 1, 2009, but does not detail which regulations are affected by the extension.