The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
KFF’s policy research provides facts and analysis on a wide range of policy issues and public programs.
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.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the organization’s core operating programs.
Over six months after the expiration of pandemic-era enrollment protections, at least 27 million Medicaid enrollees—or roughly one-in-three enrollees across the country—have completed their state’s eligibility renewal process for the program. Over 18 million people have had their coverage renewed and over 10 million have been disenrolled, as of November 8, 2023.
To better understand the experiences of Medicaid enrollees who have completed the renewal process since the start of the unwinding period, KFF conducted five virtual focus groups in September to learn about their experiences with Medicaid, awareness of the end of the continuous enrollment provision, experiences renewing their coverage since the start of the unwinding, and if they were disenrolled, efforts to regain Medicaid or transition to other coverage.
The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified pre-existing health disparities for justice-involved populations, with coronavirus infection rates among incarcerated populations higher than overall infection rates in nearly all states. Justice-involved individuals are disproportionately low-income and often have complex and/or chronic conditions, including behavioral health needs. Although the statutory inmate exclusion policy prohibits Medicaid from covering services provided during incarceration (except for inpatient services), states may take other steps to leverage Medicaid to improve continuity of care for justice-involved individuals.
For more than a year-and-a-half, the continuous enrollment requirement tied to enhanced Medicaid funding during the COVID-19 pandemic has all but halted enrollment “churn,” the temporary loss of coverage in which people disenroll from Medicaid and then re-enroll within a short period of time.
Recent policy actions and proposals in Medicaid have renewed focus on the problem of churn, or temporary loss of coverage in which enrollees disenroll and then re-enroll within a short period of time. We find that 10% of full-benefit enrollees have a gap in coverage of less than a year, and rates are higher for children and adults compared to aged and people with disabilities. Churn has implications for access to care as well as administrative costs faced by states.
Recent policy attention has focused on efforts to reduce the number of uninsured people in the U.S. by expanding eligibility for coverage assistance, including enhanced premium subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace and filling the Medicaid “coverage gap.” A new KFF analysis shows that a majority of the 27.
This issue brief draws from the KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants and other KFF analyses to highlight immigrants’ health care eligibility, healthcare use and costs, as well as their contributions to the economy and workforce.
Using data from the KFF Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, this analysis reports data on unwinding renewal outcomes through June 2024 and examines Medicaid enrollment changes from February 2020 through May 2024, the most recent federal enrollment data available, nationally and across states.
Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waivers offer states an avenue to test new approaches in Medicaid that differ from what is required by federal statute, so long as the approach is likely to “promote the objectives of the Medicaid program.” As with broader Medicaid policy, the future landscape of Section 1115 waivers depends on the outcome of the November 2024 presidential election as a new administration could focus on different priorities, rescind existing guidance, or withdraw already-approved waivers. This waiver watch summarizes five key areas of difference in 1115 waiver policy and waiver approvals under the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations.
This brief examines the two presidential candidates’ records and other recent policy proposals that could inform starkly different directions for the program across key areas, including Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion, financing, eligibility, benefits, and cost-sharing, prescription drugs, long-term services and supports, and managed care.
© 2025 KFF