Governor seeks $40 million to pay Medicaid providers

Gov. Linda Lingle has asked the Legislature for $40 million in emergency funds to help the Department of Human Services cover its April payment to the state's Medicaid providers, some of which are nonprofits. In a March 18 letter to Speaker Calvin Say, Lingle asked the Legislature to advance the money from the department's budget for the next fiscal year.

Say said the request does not include any proposal to make up the $40 million, which would force the Legislature to make further cuts or increase taxes to find more money. He and other Democratic leaders have criticized Lingle’s budgeting strategy of shifting debt to the next administration and called the emergency funding request more of the same.

Lawmakers already were chasing a budget deficit of $1.28 billion in the fiscal biennium, after the most recent forecast by the state Council on Revenues. The emergency request says the state's Medicaid program projects a $342 million budget shortfall this fiscal year. The $40 million is needed to cover the state's April payment to providers and will draw down $80 million in federal matching funds.

As outlined by Lingle and Human Services Director Lillian Koller last week before the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the state expects it will be able to delay the May and June payments until after the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. The state made similar deferments last year with no adverse effect to delivery of Medicaid services, Koller said.