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Senator Rockefeller Outlines West Virginia’s Share Of Medicaid Stimulus Funding 

3/26/2009 

Washington, D.C.—Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV reached out to Governor Joe Manchin; Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, Martha Yeager Walker; and other West Virginia state leaders to outline the Medicaid stimulus funding that West Virginia will receive and what to expect from the process.

 

On Wednesday, February 25, 2009, West Virginia received its first installment of federal Medicaid recovery funding from the U.S. Treasury – $76,479,599 in new federal dollars on top of the federal Medicaid funding the state receives regularly.  This initial federal relief money covers the first two quarters of the fiscal year (October 2008-December 2008; and January 2009-March 2009). The Government Accountability Office estimates that the state could receive nearly $450 million in federal funding over the next two years to help meet existing and growing enrollment needs in Medicaid. 

 

“Recently, I have read numerous press reports recounting some confusion regarding the amount of Medicaid relief that West Virginia is expected to receive from the stimulus bill, as well as the allowable uses of the additional Medicaid funds,” said Senator Rockefeller. “As one of the principal authors of this section of the new law, I thought it might be helpful to provide more detailed information about the federal Medicaid relief for West Virginia.”

 

“Nearly 400,000 West Virginians depend on Medicaid to meet their health care needs.  That number is expected to grow as our economy struggles and unemployment increases.  This temporary and targeted infusion of additional federal Medicaid funding will help our state continue to provide vital health care services during this difficult period in our economy.”

 

“Historically, West Virginia has entered recessions later than other states and stayed in longer.  That is why this new law not only includes upfront money for all states, but it also includes extra assistance linked to unemployment levels for states like West Virginia that may need additional help down the road.”

 

Senator Rockefeller provided a detailed fact sheet on how the Medicaid relief funding works for West Virginia as well as a Congressional Research Service report that explains all the Medicaid provisions included in the new law. The fact sheet is enclosed. Continuous updates on implementation of the health provisions in the new recovery law are available at: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/ and www.recovery.gov.

Rebecca Gale