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In Context: 2024 AL Medicaid Funding
In the last Advocacy Exchange, we brought you an insider’s perspective on the State’s budget-writing process. We can now see how that process played out in the 2024 supplemental budget’s AL Medicaid rate appropriations.
As you can see in this chart, the Conference Committee found middle ground between funding levels proposed by the House and Senate. We expected some balance between the two; our successful work in the closing weeks of session was to tip the scales toward the House proposal.
This year’s millions in new funding may seem small compared to the hundreds of millions included in last year’s budget. That’s because 2024 is a supplemental budget year – the second in Washington’s two-year legislative cycle. Big funding packages are usually devised in the first, while only urgent needs or corrections are typically addressed in the second. Given that environment, the 2024 supplemental budget indicates that key legislators understand the urgency of tackling underfunding in AL Medicaid rates.
Your efforts to educate lawmakers paid off in 2024, and with millions in one-time funding set to expire in 2025, your continued engagement is essential. Our work on Medicaid funding in the 2025-2027 State Operating Budget – both for SNF and AL – will require focused advocacy in the interim between sessions.
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