As we said Tuesday, the House removed provisions for federal Medicaid and COBRA subsidies from H.R. 4213, and the Senate departed for Memorial Day recess without taking action. The subsidies are critical to help hurting states that are struggling with budget cuts and families who have lost jobs during the worst economic time since the Depression.

The Senate will take up the bill when it returns from recess, and is likely to make changes. It is critical that the FMAP and COBRA extensions are put back into the baseline bill that is brought to the Senate floor, since it’s difficult to add the provisions back in through a floor amendment.

States are relying heavily on the FMAP extensions in their state budgets. It is very possible that this will be the last chance to secure those funds. Please contact your Senators before Tuesday and ask them to support the inclusion of the FMAP and COBRA extensions in the “tax extenders” bill (Also known as H.R. 4213, “The American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act.”) to be considered by the Senate.  You can use Families USA’s toll-free number to connect to Capitol Hill, 1-866-922-4970.

For talking points, see the Community Catalyst implementation page.