Medigrant: Hawaii's Base Year Funding

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the accuracy of the tables it provided to the Senate showing Hawaii's fiscal year (FY) 1995 Medicaid spending, focusing on whether Hawaii's base year funding amounts reflected possible inaccuracies. GAO noted that: (1) it was unable to determine if Hawaii's Medicaid funding accurately reflected its Medicaid payments, since prior base year spending amounts were not available; (2) the Senate agreed to a specific funding amount for FY 1996 that was not explicitly linked to prior year spending; (3) the base year funding amount shown in the Senate tables understates Hawaii's actual FY 1995 spending, since Hawaii does not intend to use its Disproportionate Hospital Share allotment; and (4) the understatement will not affect Hawaii's receipt of FY 1996 Medigrant funds, since such payments will not be allocated based on the spending estimated in the Senate tables.