Medicaid Budget & Expenditure System (MBES)

CMS-64 – The form CMS-64, Quarterly Medicaid Statement of Expenditures for the Medical Assistance Program, has been used since January 1980 by the Medicaid State agencies to report their actual program benefit costs and administrative expenses to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  CMS uses this information to compute the Federal financial participation (FFP) for the State's Medicaid Program costs.  The Form CMS-64 has been modified over the years to incorporate legislative, regulatory, and operational changes.

Certain schedules of Forms CMS-64.21 and CMS-64.21U are used by states to report budget, expenditure and related statistical information required for implementation of the Medicaid portion of the Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP), title XXI of the Social Security Act (the Act), established by the recently enacted Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA).

CMS-37 – The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized by Congress under Title XIX of the Social Security Act (Act) to make funds available to the states for the purposes set forth in the annual Medicaid appropriation.  To insure that adequate funds are available for the efficient operation of the Medicaid program, the Secretary has determined that budget estimates from the states for Medical Assistance Payments and Administration costs shall be reported, prior to the beginning of each quarter, on Form CMS-37, the Medicaid Program Budget Report.  In addition, as discussed in more detail below, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA, P.L. 105-33) amended Title XIX to provide states the optional use of state child health assistance funds under Title XXI, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for enhanced Medicaid matching funds and expanded Medicaid eligibility for certain Medicaid groups described in Sections 1905(u)(2), 1905(u)(3), and 1920A.  For a detailed discussion of all of the Title XXI provisions affecting Medicaid please see sections 2115, 2117, and 2500.9 

Form CMS-37 fulfills two of CMS's most essential data needs for administering the Medicaid program:

  • It provides a statement of the state's funding requirements for the upcoming quarter and certifies the availability of the requisite state and local funds.  This information is required for the issuance of a quarterly grant award to the state (in accordance with Section 1903(d)(1) of the Act).
  • Its schedules provide both the state's budget estimates and the assumptions underlying its projections for 2 FYs.  This information is needed by CMS to formulate and execute the national Medicaid budget as well as to forecast the potential impact of proposed legislation on the Medicaid program (in accordance with Section 1902(a)(6) of the Act).

To get detailed information about CMS-64 and CMS-37, click on the navigation bar on the left side of the page.