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KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
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Medicaid Watch was a 2025 series featuring policy research, polling and news about the Medicaid financing debate. This series is no longer active. For the latest publications on Medicaid, please visit this page.
All states and the District of Columbia will lose more federal Medicaid funding under the Senate-passed bill than under the House-passed bill. In 14 states, the Senate bill would reduce federal Medicaid spending by at least $5 billion more than the House bill would have.
In total, due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and other policy changes, the number of people without health insurance is expected to increase by about 17 million. If all of this comes to pass, it would represent the biggest roll back of health insurance coverage ever due to federal policy changes.
Medicaid helps fill gaps in coverage for veterans who are low-income, have disabilities, or are otherwise ineligible for military health benefits. It supports those with complex health needs and reduces out-of-pocket expenses. This brief presents five key facts about veterans with Medicaid and how policy changes in Congress could affect their coverage and access to care.
The Supreme Court's ruling in Medina v. Planned Parenthood of the South Atlantic means that Medicaid enrollees in South Carolina, and in other states that exclude Planned Parenthood going forward, will not be able to use their Medicaid coverage to obtain any preventive services, such as contraceptive care, STI treatment and cancer screenings, at Planned Parenthood clinics.
The Senate Finance Committee’s reconciliation language would reduce existing state-directed payments to hospitals and nursing facilities over time until they are at or slightly above Medicare rates. This analysis identifies states that might have to reduce payment rates for hospitals or nursing facilities if the language is passed into law.
Proposed changes in eligibility rules in both SNAP and Medicaid may jeopardize some people’s access to both adequate food and health care if various provisions of the bill take effect, in part because there is a significant overlap in eligibility requirements for Medicaid and SNAP across states. Four in 10 (40%) Medicaid enrollees receive SNAP benefits.
This brief presents five key facts about Medicaid coverage among individuals living in rural areas. It draws on recent data to describe enrollment patterns, differences by state Medicaid expansion status, characteristics of the rural Medicaid population, and patterns of health care use among enrollees.
To understand the impact of Medicaid work requirements included in the budget reconciliation bill being debated in Congress, KFF has undertaken two different analyses using different data sources. Using 2023 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this analysis looks at the share of adults who work at least 80 hours per month, the reasons some do not, and how consistently individuals meet the requirement over a six-month period.
In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, KFF's President and CEO, examines the different counts of the number of people on Medicaid that are currently in use, which range from 69 to 83 million, and why it might matter. He also discusses other ways to assess the reach of the program: “possibly it’s useful to explain why there are different numbers out there about what seemingly is an all-time simple question: how many people are on Medicaid,” Altman says.
This brief describes key challenges that Medicaid work requirements may pose for adults with mental health or substance use disorders. In May, the House passed a budget reconciliation bill that includes national Medicaid work requirements for adults in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansion group.
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