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Using data from the 23rd KFF survey of officials administering Medicaid home care programs, this issue brief describes the mechanisms states are currently using to limit Medicaid spending on home care and their plans for adopting new mechanisms in state fiscal year (FY) 2026.
The Republican-led Congress is considering plans to cut Medicaid to help pay for tax cuts, with the House budget resolution targeting $880 billion or more in potential reductions to federal Medicaid spending. To better understand the experiences of Medicaid enrollees and their perceptions of potential changes to the program, KFF conducted five virtual focus groups in January, including three groups with participants who had voted for President Trump in the 2024 election and two groups with participants who had voted for Vice President Harris.
The privatization of Medicare has been taking place without much public debate – a trend that has implications for the 68 million people covered by Medicare, health care providers, Medicare spending, and taxpayers. It's not yet clear whether the administration will promote policies to accelerate the privatization of Medicare or focus more on achieving efficiencies and savings within Medicare Advantage, or pursue policies that aim to achieve both. How this plays out will have implications for beneficiaries, health care providers and insurers, and is worthy of serious debate.
Data currently being released represent Open Enrollment Marketplace plan selections, or how many people have signed up for or been automatically renewed into 2026 coverage. These data do not necessarily translate to effectuated enrollments. That is because people who have selected a plan or been automatically renewed may not ultimately choose to pay for their plan, thus “effectuating” their coverage.
The unwinding of pandemic enrollment protections in Medicaid helped accelerate states’ expansion of eligibility for key groups and adoption of policy and system changes to streamline renewal processes for enrollees, according to findings from a new KFF survey of state Medicaid officials.
As Medicare Advantage continues to grow, a gradual but significant reshaping of the Medicare program is taking place. A new KFF analysis finds that nearly half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries – 28.4 million out of 58.6 million Medicare beneficiaries overall – are now enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
The unwinding of the continuous enrollment provision will play out differently across the states based on policy choices states have made and variation in their administrative infrastructures. Some states have adopted multiple policies that are more likely to promote continued coverage among those who remain eligible.
A new KFF analysis finds that between 8 and 24 million people across the U.S. could be disenrolled from Medicaid during the unwinding of the program’s continuous enrollment provision. The estimates draw on data collected through KFF’s recent survey of state Medicaid and CHIP officials, conducted with the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.
This brief gauges Medicaid enrollees’ knowledge of the Medicaid renewal process and possible disenrollment, following the end of continuous enrollment on March 31, 2023.
For 2024, the average Medicare beneficiary has access to 43 Medicare Advantage plans and can choose from plans offered by 8 firms. Among the majority of Medicare Advantage plans that cover prescription drugs, 66 percent will charge no premium in addition to the monthly Medicare Part B premium. As in previous years, the vast majority of Medicare Advantage plans will offer supplemental benefits, including fitness, dental, vision, and hearing benefits.
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