Issue Brief 9-22
June 23, 2009
Summary 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA; P.L. 111-5) contains provisions that increase Medicaid grants to states for 27 months by increasing their federal medical assistance percentages (FMAPs), the share of state programs paid by the federal government. The bonus increases can change each calendar quarter based on state unemployment rates. FFIS estimated the new FMAPs for the first three quarters of federal fiscal year (FY) 2009 and their impacts (see Issue Brief 09-05 and Issue Brief 09-14). This brief estimates FMAPs for the fourth quarter based on new data and uses those rates to re-estimate the overall impact on states through December 2010. The overall increase in Medicaid grants to states is now estimated to equal $84.9 billion.