Health Affairs, RWJ release brief on extra Medicaid funding to states

Health policy journal Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have published a new brief that examines whether the federal government should extend its temporary increase in contributions to states for Medicaid funding.

The brief, titled Extra Federal Support for Medicaid, examines how the additional FMAP contributions have helped offset state deficits, since most state budgets by law must be balanced. It also includes proponents' and opponents' views, in particular the debate between the necessity to avoid serious harm to state budgets versus the impact on the federal deficit if the additional assistance isn't offset with spending cuts or revenue increases.