Letter to the Hon. Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State - Stefanik Urges Governor Cuomo to Immediately Release FMAP Funding for Counties

Letter

Dear Governor Cuomo,

We write to express our deep concern that New York's county governments have not yet received their share of the enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) provided by Congress to the State of New York.

On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFRCA) into law following its swift, bipartisan passage in Congress. Section 6008 of the FFCRA provides a temporary FMAP increase of 6.2 percent, bringing New York State's FMAP to 56.2 percent for the duration of the public health emergency caused by COVID-19. With the enhanced FMAP provided by Congress, New York is able to claim a greater reimbursement from the federal government for its Medicaid expenditures incurred on or after January 1, 2020.

Since the non-federal share of Medicaid expenses are split between New York State and the county governments, the greater federal reimbursement will deliver much-needed federal funding directly to New York counties and free up local resources to address the urgent needs of their communities. Importantly, FFCRA prevents states from increasing the percentage of Medicaid payments that political subdivisions must pay while the temporary FMAP increase is in place, ensuring county governments may not be denied their share of the funding.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has indicated that they have issued supplemental grant awards to every state for the first two quarters of calendar year 2020 to account for the increased FMAP, including a total of $2.5 billion to New York. Based on CMS records, New York State had not drawn down any of the increased funding made available to them as of March 31, 2020. Since states are not required to submit documentation to CMS until July 31, 2020 for funding drawn down after March 31, 2020, it remains unclear if New York State has accepted the increased FMAP and will be disbursing the funding to county governments in accordance to FFCRA. We remind you that forgoing billions of dollars in federal funding during this crisis would be an unthinkable abdication of your duty to the State of New York.

What is clear, however, is the counties in our congressional districts have yet to receive any supplemental FMAP funding despite the dire financial circumstances they currently face. This delay is unacceptable.

We urge you to immediately disburse funds to county governments from the $2.5 billion that has been provided to New York State for the increased FMAP. Our constituents and communities cannot afford any further delay.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

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