CMS Awards Total of $50 Million to 32 State Medicaid Programs
for Electronic Health Records Incentive Program
The six state Medicaid programs that received federal matching funds for electronic health record incentive program announced March 24, 2010 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) were the latest in the series of 32 states since November 2009 that were awarded a total of $50,162,000. That’s according to a search of CMS press releases on March 29, 2010.
See the alphabetical list below with amounts awarded and dates of the press releases.
As an example, the press release for North Carolina, one of the states receiving matching funds on March 24, 2010 received $2.29 million and one of the higher amounts, said “The Recovery Act provides a 90 percent federal match for state planning activities to administer the incentive payments to Medicaid providers, to ensure their proper payments through audits and to participate in statewide efforts to promote interoperability and meaningful use of EHR technology statewide and, eventually, across the nation.”
According to a recent presentation by CMS, the Statutory Conditions of Use of the 90/10 HITECH Admin Funds are three fold, and vary based on the specific plan proposed by the state and agreed to by CMS:
“1. Administration of incentives, including tracking of meaningful use by Medicaid EPs and eligible hospitals;
2. Oversight, including routine tracking of meaningful use attestations and reporting mechanisms; and
3. Pursuing initiatives to encourage the adoption of certified EHR technology for the promotion of health care quality and the exchange of health care information.”
According to the report by Bernie Monegain in Healthcare IT News on March 25, 2010, ”Colorado will use its federal matching funds for planning activities that include conducting a comprehensive analysis to determine the current status of healthcare information technology activities in the state.” In addition to Colorado and North Carolina, the other state Medicaid EHR awards announced on March 24, 2010 were Mississippi, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming.
The midpoint of the 32 awards was about $1.4 million, with New York’s Medicaid program (announced December 24, 2010) receiving the largest, $5.91 million.
CMS Matching Funds for EHRs
| State | Amount | Date |
| Alabama | $269,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Alaska | $900,000 | 1/21/2010 |
| Arizona | $2,890,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Arkansas | $815,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| California | $2,480,000 | 12/9/2009 |
| Colorado | $798,000 | 3/24/2010 |
| Florida | $1,690,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Georgia | $3,170,000 | 12/9/2009 |
| Idaho | $142,000 | 12/9/2009 |
| Illinois | $2,180,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Iowa | $1,160,000 | 11/23/2009 |
| Kansas | $1,700,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Kentucky | $2,600,000 | 1/21/2010 |
| Maine | $1,400,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Michigan | $1,520,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Mississippi | $1,470,000 | 3/24/2010 |
| Montana | $239,000 | 12/9/2009 |
| Nebraska | $894,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Nevada | $1,050,000 | 3/24/2010 |
| New York | $5,910,000 | 12/9/2009 |
| North Carolina | $2,290,000 | 3/24/2010 |
| Oklahoma | $587,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Pennsylvania | $1,420,000 | 1/4/2010 |
| South Carolina | $1,480,000 | 1/21/2010 |
| Tennessee | $2,700,000 | 1/4/2010 |
| Texas | $3,860,000 | 12/9/2009 |
| US Virgin Islands | $232,000 | 12/9/2009 |
| Utah | $396,000 | 3/24/2010 |
| Vermont | $294,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Virginia | $1,660,000 | 2/26/2010 |
| Wisconsin | $1,370,000 | 1/21/2010 |
| Wyoming | $596,000 | 3/24/2010 |
| TOTAL | $50,162,000 |
