Enhanced Federal Match Rate for Medicaid SCHIP Program

Item 308 #1h

Explanation
(This amendment reduces the general fund by $7.6 million the second year in the Medicaid state children's health insurance program (SCHIP) and increases nongeneral funds by a like amount to account for available federal matching funds. Virginia currently receives an enhanced federal match rate of about 64 percent for this program, similar to that available through the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS). The introduced budget assumed that under federal health care reform, this match rate would revert to 50 percent, the current Medicaid federal match rate. However, recent draft regulations by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid clarify that states will be able to continue receiving the FAMIS match rate for Medicaid children in families with incomes between 100 percent and 133 percent of the federal poverty level.)