House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced legislation earlier this month to boost federal Medicaid payments to some states. As the Kaiser Daily Health Report puts it, the bill "would temporarily increase the Medicaid federal medical assistance percentage by 2.95% for eligible states... The legislation would increase FMAP from April 1 through June 30, 2009. Under the bill, states would have to maintain current Medicaid enrollment levels to qualify for the FMAP increase. States also would have to adjust reimbursements by localities and counties to account for the FMAP increase."

This is similar to legislation passed by Congress in 2003 and signed by President Bush, and was was essentially a bail-out for states that were seeing increased Medicaid spending as they experienced declines in their state tax revenues. Of course, states like Ohio and Maryland have passed Medicaid expansions even in the face of both budget difficulties and a declining economy, so it seems a little ridiculous to ask federal taxpayers to bail them out.

If the economic slowdown is relatively sort, this FMAP proposal will likely go nowhere. But if it continues into next year (and especially if we get a Democratic president) it's almost certain to pass.