State Medicaid Programs Respond to Meet COVID-19 Challenges: Results from a 50-State Medicaid Budget Survey for State Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021

KFF October 14, 2020
Kathleen Gifford, Aimee Lashbrook, Sarah Barth, Elizabeth Hinton, Robin Rudowitz, Madeline Guth, Lina Stolyar

The coronavirus pandemic has generated both a public health crisis and an economic crisis, with major implications for Medicaid, a countercyclical program. During economic downturns, more people enroll in Medicaid, increasing program spending at the same time state tax revenues may be falling. As demand increases and state revenues decline, states face difficult budget decisions to meet balanced budget requirements. To help both support Medicaid and provide broad fiscal relief, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)¹ authorized a 6.2 percentage point increase in the federal match rate (“FMAP”)² (retroactive to January 1, 2020) available if states meet certain “maintenance of eligibility” (MOE) requirements.³ The fiscal relief is in place until the end of the quarter in which the Public...

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