LANSING – Federal lawmakers’ failure to renew extended unemployment benefits and a loss of about $500 million in the federal Medicaid assistance percentage funds will combine to tax Michigan’s safety net to a point where even some of the most basic services may see cuts, Department of Human Services Director Ismael Ahmed said Tuesday.
“As we continue to set record highs every month for Medicaid and food assistance, and caseworkers having an average of 700 cases each, this news from Washington challenges our ability to serve Michigan’s vulnerable citizens,” Ahmed said. “As a result of the economic downturn and high unemployment, Medicaid is vital in providing temporary medical assistance for so many.”
He said DHS’s share of the lost federal medical assistance money is about $150 million.
The reduction in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage rate will mean beginning in January the state will get $65.79 for every $100 it spends, instead of the current enhanced rate of $75.57 for every $100.
It accompanied the Senate’s decision not to extend unemployment benefits for another six months, a move that will eliminate unemployment benefits for an estimated 87,000 residents by July 3 and for more than 400,000 Michiganders by the end of the year, according to a DHS release.
“This is going to not only put stress on DHS, but the whole system,” Ahmed said. “It is already frayed from 10 years of cuts and they’re going to blow another hole in it with this.”
He said everything is on the chopping block. Even the programs he holds “most sacred,” cash assistance and SSI, likely won’t avoid some cuts.
With workers already stretched thin handling record levels of people on assistance, Ahmed encouraged people who might need benefits to apply online or at a DHS office kiosk.
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