Standing outside Children’s National Hospital, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said if Congress moves ahead with cuts to the Medicaid formula that covers 40% of D.C. residents, the result would be devastating.
Currently, the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, or FMAP, for the District is 70% — a rate that was set by Congress in recognition of D.C.’s constraints in its ability to raise revenue to cover Medicaid costs.
Cutting the FMAP rate from 70% to 50%, Bowser said, would affect everyone, including visitors to the District who may need emergency care, for example.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton explained why the FMAP rate of 70% is needed.
“Congress imposes several revenue limitations on D.C. For example, D.C. cannot tax income earned in D.C. by nonresidents, depriving D.C. of more than $3 billion in annual revenue; nor can D.C. permit buildings to exceed certain height limitations or tax its sizable federal property,” Norton said. “These constraints are why FMAP is set higher than many states, to ensure D.C. can continue to provide vital services.”
At a news conference on Friday, Bowser told reporters, “This change for the federal government, wouldn’t close any gaps, but it would close hospitals in the District.”
Jaqueline Bowens, president and CEO of the D.C. Hospital Association, noted that the cuts would affect not just centers that provide pediatric care, like Children’s National Hospital: “It’s about every hospital. It’s about every federally-qualified health center. It’s about every nursing home. It’s about every home-health agency.”
“It’s about everybody, regardless of your ZIP code, regardless of your socioeconomic status, regardless of where you live,” she said. “Let’s be very, very clear, it’s not about others. It’s about all of us.”
Deputy Mayor for the D.C. Health and Human Services Wayne Turnage told reporters, “We’ll have less money — locally — to purchase the services that we need,” if Congress cuts the FMAP rate.
Turnage added that the loss could approach $1.1 billion — not including the Obamacare expansion.
D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly introduced himself not just as the fire chief, but as the CEO of one of the largest health care organizations in the District. He noted that his department handles over 500 calls a day.
“We handle everything from cardiac arrest to stroke calls to people with complex medical emergencies. The kind of people that need to be in hospitals getting great care so they can have a good quality of life,” Donnelly said.
Donnelly addressed lawmakers on Capitol Hill directly, saying: “Be careful with this cut, Congress, be very careful with this cut.”
“Last year alone, the department treated and transported nearly 78,000 patients to local hospitals,” he added. “Forty-three thousand of those patients, or 56%, were Medicaid insured. These patients included 3,000 children.”
Lei-Lei Gerkin attended the news conference with her son Jag, who has autism.
Describing herself as a D.C. native, she told WTOP: “We’re already facing a lot of challenges. In order for us to thrive as humans, we need to be supported with health care that’s reflective of our physical, social, emotional, mental and whole well-being in general.”