Professor Edwin Park Publishes Article Arguing for Increase in Federal Medicaid Matching Rate

Initially published by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, Professor Edwin Park has called for an increase in the Federal Medicaid Matching Rate to be included as part of any economic stimulus in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Professor Park argues, “Raising the matching rate would help states address higher Medicaid costs resulting from higher enrollment as more people become eligible for Medicaid as they lose their jobs or see their hours or wages reduced.  It would also aid states facing higher-than-expected health costs in Medicaid due to COVID-19.  Moreover, it would allow for greater financial support to a health care safety net that disproportionately serves Medicaid beneficiaries (and the uninsured) and is likely to face growing, severe stress in coming weeks and months.  It would also provide overall fiscal relief to states that could face budget deficits as demand for public services increase and state revenues decline due to a downturn.  Because nearly all states are required to balance their budgets, such fiscal relief would avert or limit budget cuts which states would otherwise have to make and which would deepen and lengthen any downturn.  As a result, it would significantly strengthen Medicaid’s already important “countercyclical” function alongside other important programs such as SNAP. “

The full article can be found here.