news-record.com

The state legislature is balancing a budget on hope. It needs a backup plan based on reality.

Both House and Senate budget proposals -- currently in the reconciliation process -- count on more than $480 million in what's called enhanced Medicaid funding from the federal government.

The trouble is, Congress hasn't extended this funding beyond Dec. 31 -- halfway through the state's next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The legislature, like legislatures in most other states, has assumed this money is on the way. But missing its guess would leave a gaping hole in the budget.

With the recession driving more Americans onto Medicaid rolls, Congress last year temporarily increased the federal share of the program's costs for individual states, as long as those states don't tighten eligibility standards. North Carolina agreed, although its Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new effort to detect and eliminate fraud.

The enhanced federal payments were extended through this calendar year but so far not beyond. Measures in Congress would keep the extra money flowing through June 2011, long enough to cover another fiscal year for North Carolina. Deficit worries on Capitol Hill are holding up approval. Republicans can scuttle the funding in the Senate, where 60 votes will be needed to win passage. In the House, conservative Democrats may balk.

Senators and representatives of all stripes should consider their home states' interests. People who are entitled to Medicaid coverage can't be denied. What the federal government won't pay, the states must -- even if it means taking money from schools, public safety or other high-priority programs. Congress should not leave the states short in the middle of the upcoming fiscal year.

At the same time, the legislature shouldn't leave town without facing the possibility that the money won't come. Where can it make up for $480 million? It would be irresponsible for legislators to ignore that question while they return home to campaign for re-election.

Even if the extension is granted, legislators already know the enhanced funding will end next year and the state will have to pick up a larger share of an increasingly expensive obligation. Hoping for more help from Washington won't be an option then.