Issue Brief 11-10
March 21, 2011
Summary 


Under the “qualifying individual” (QI) program, states receive 100% federal Medicaid reimbursement for paying Medicare Part B premiums for certain categories of elderly or disabled individuals up to an annual allotment. On March 21, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published in the Federal Register final state allotments for fiscal year (FY) 2010 and preliminary allotments for FY 2011. The allotments reflect additional money appropriated in P.L. 111-127 to address the program’s funding shortfall ($50 million in FY 2010 and $15 million in FY 2011). In addition, the FY 2011 amounts reflect increased funding included in the most recent QI extension (P.L. 111-309) enacted in December 2010.