The county will get $66 million in federal Medicaid funds via the stimulus package, even though it technically doesn't pay its own Medicaid bill.

Remember, the county entered into an arrangement - an intercept - where the state keeps a percentage of the county's sales tax revenues, and in turn the county doesn't have to make Medicaid payments.

"We've been assured by the state budget office that the intercept will have no effect on our FMAP funds," says county spokesman Noah Lebowitz.

 FMAP is the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage - the amount of Medicaid funding provided by the federal government

To make this simple, the county is getting $66 million in federal dollars for general use in the budget, and officials plan to use it to offset expected funding gaps. To start, the county faces a potential $12 million shortfall this year because of cuts in the governor's proposed budget, County Executive Maggie Brooks said during a press conference this morning.

"This is not a license to spend and add extra programs," Brooks said.

The money will come in installments over nine quarters in 2009 and 2010, with a lump-sum payment for the first two quarters, which have already passed.