ACF Proposes to Eliminate TANF Caseload Reduction Credit for Excess MOE Spending

Last Friday, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), published a proposal to eliminate the TANF provision that allows a state to receive additional caseload reduction credit for maintenance-of-effort (MOE) expenditures in excess of its required MOE spending. A copy of the proposed rule is attached. (http://inside.ffis.org//ff/ACF%20NPRM%20eliminating%20MOE%20caseload%20reduction%20credit.pdf) A 60-day comment period is now underway; all comments must be received on or before October 7, 2008.

House Passes Military Construction, VA Funding

The House passed the FY 2009 Military Construction-Veteran's Affairs appropriations bill. The measure provides:

· $3.8 billion for specialty mental health care and $584 million for substance abuse programs
· $130 million for the homeless grants, including $32 million to hire additional personnel for the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program
· $9.1 billion for base closures and realignments ($1.8 billion above FY 2008)
· $200 million to increase access to fee-based care for veterans who live in rural areas far from a veterans' hospital

Congress Approves Higher Education Bill

After several years of deliberations and eight extensions of the Higher Education Act, the Senate and House approved the conference report to the Higher Education Act (H.R. 4137). The final legislation includes a maintenance-of-effort mandate, which punishes states for failing to maintain spending on higher education by withholding funds from the College Access Challenge Grants program.

Senate Committee Approves Juvenile Justice Reauthorization

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved S. 3155, the "Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008." The law was last reauthorized in 2002. S. 3155 would permit states to allow juveniles convicted in adult court to serve their sentences in juvenile facilities, limit the ability of judges to order non-delinquent "status offenders" to be held in juvenile lockups and require states to conduct mental health evaluations of juvenile offenders within 24 hours of their being held and ensure that those diagnosed with problems are provided treatment.

CMS Informs State Medicaid Programs of New Medicare "Never Event" Policy

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final regulation for the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) for FY 2009, which also finalizes a policy whereby Medicare will no longer pay for certain Hospital Acquired Conditions (HACs), commonly known as "never events." In addition to the final rule, CMS sent a letter to state Medicaid agencies notifying them of the new Medicare policy. The agency stated that hospitals may try to bill Medicaid as a secondary payer for the services Medicare will now deny. The letter encouraged state Medicaid agencies to adopt the same non-payment policies as Medicare. According to CMS, almost 20 states have or are considering eliminating payment for some never events in Medicaid.

DHS Releases National Emergency Communications Plan

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the National Emergency Communications Plan, which establishes a minimum level of interoperable communications for federal, state, local and tribal authorities. A copy of the plan is attached. (http://inside.ffis.org//ff/emergency_communications.pdf).