MFP Reauthorization Passed Out of House Committee
The Committee on Energy and Commerce (E&C) has passed the Ensuring Medicaid Provides Opportunities for Widespread Equity, Resources (EMPOWER) and Care Act, which would reauthorize the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program for one year. The vote came at the end of a week that featured both a Congressional hearing and a Congressional briefing on MFP. The next step for the House bill will be consideration by the full chamber. There is also a Senate bill reauthorizing MFP, which has not yet been considered by the Senate Finance Committee.
The E&C Subcommittee on Health in the US House of Representatives held a hearing on September 5th, entitled “Opportunities to Improve Health Care,” which focused on several Medicaid bills, including the EMPOWER Care Act. Witnesses focused on MFP included Curtis Cunningham, Assistant Administrator for Long Term Care Benefits and Programs Division of Medicaid Services in Wisconsin and member of both NASDDDS and the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD); and Matt Salo, Executive Director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD).
On the following day, a number of disability groups sponsored a congressional briefing on the topic of MFP. The bill passed the committee the next day.
FMI: For more information on the hearing, including witness testimony and a recording of the hearing, go to https://energycommerce.house.gov/hearings/opportunities-to-improve-health-care/.