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Congress Approves Extensions of Money Follows the Person

Congress Approves Extensions of Money Follows the Person

August 14, 2019
The United States House of Representatives and Senate have passed H.R. 3253 – the Sustaining Excellence in Medicaid Act of 2019. This legislation adds $122.5 million in short-term funding for the Money Follows the Person (MFP) rebalancing demonstration project. MFP rebalancing demonstration grants help fund state efforts to rebalance their Medicaid long-term care systems.
 
Since 2019, more than 75,000 people with disabilities and chronic conditions have transitioned back into the community through the MFP program.  A stable and accessible MFP program is essential to ensure that individuals UCPLA serves can access quality, community-based programming like ours.

The goals of the MFP program are:
  • Increase the use of home and community-based services (HCBS) and reduce reliance on institutional services;
  • Eliminate barriers in state law, state Medicaid plans, and state budgets that restrict the use of Medicaid funds to let people get long-term care in the settings of their choice;
  • Put procedures in place to provide quality assurance and improvement of HCBS.
 
MFP has helped more than 88,000 individuals with disabilities and seniors move out of nursing homes and institutions.  Independent evaluations have proven that MFP improves the quality of life for individuals and has reduced Medicaid and Medicare expenditures by approximately 23%.
 
The passage of the Sustaining Excellence in Medicaid Act of 2019 is an encouraging step, but additional measures need to be taken to ensure the long-term stability for the MFP program.  Disability advocates are calling for approval of H.R.1342/S.548, the bipartisan EMPOWER Cares Act, that would provide long-term reauthorization of Money Follows the Person. Advocates on social media are urged to use the hashtag #FundMFP in your posts supporting MFP or call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to urge approval.