Access to Care

At the start of 2025, many issues are at play that will affect Medicaid coverage, financing, and access to care. While Medicaid was not discussed much on the campaign trail, Congress may consider big changes as part of tax and spending debates and the Trump administration may make changes to Medicaid through executive actions. Amid the potential changes, this brief highlights ten key things to know about Medicaid.

This Policy Watch reviews the key provisions of President Trump’s Executive Order that aim to restrict youth access to gender affirming care and examines state and legal responses.

This fact sheet reviews current national and state policies around Emergency Contraception, including methods, patient awareness, access and availability, and insurance coverage. Among methods discussed are ulipristal acetate (ella), intrauterine devices (copper IUDs and levonorgestrel IUDs), and progestin-based pills (Plan B and Next Choice).

This brief analyzes federal transparency data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on claims denials and appeals for non-group qualified health plans (QHPs) offered on HealthCare.gov in 2023. It finds that HealthCare.gov insurers denied nearly one out of every five claims (19%) submitted for in-network services. Information about the reasons for denials is limited, and few consumers appeal claims denials.

This brief provides the most recent data on the extent to which non-pediatric physicians are opting out of Medicare, by specialty and by state.

This volume examines misleading claims about birth control, focusing on the mischaracterization of emergency contraceptives as abortifacients, the influence of social media on patient-provider communication, and online messages that inaccurately promote fertility awareness methods as safer alternatives.

This brief provides key data on socioeconomic characteristics and health coverage among children of immigrants based on KFF analysis of the American Community Survey data. It also examines potential implications of policies and actions that may be implemented by the incoming Trump administration.

This fact sheet provides an overview of health coverage for immigrants based on data from the 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants, the largest nationally representative survey focused on immigrants and discusses potential implications of incoming Trump administration policies for coverage of immigrants.

Contingency management is an evidence-based psychosocial intervention that uses motivational incentives, such as vouchers or gift cards, to encourage recovery behaviors like stimulant abstinence and treatment session (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy) attendance. The Biden administration has approved five state contingency management waivers (California, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington); two additional state contingency management requests are currently pending federal review.

This issue brief describes trends in health coverage in 2023, examines the characteristics of the uninsured population ages 0-64, and summarizes the access and financial implications of not having coverage.