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This data note analyzes federal Medicaid outlays before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the one year since the onset of the pandemic, federal Medicaid outlays totaled $500.8 billion and grew by 19.5%, compared to 6.3% growth in the one year before the pandemic.
Following several years of declining or flat enrollment growth, states expect Medicaid enrollment and spending each to jump by more than 8 percent in fiscal year 2021, chiefly due to a slumping economy amid the pandemic and federal conditions to maintain coverage to access enhanced federal matching funds, according to a new KFF Medicaid budget…
This report provides an in-depth examination of the changes taking place in Medicaid programs across the country. The findings are drawn from the 20th annual budget survey of Medicaid officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia conducted by KFF and Health Management Associates (HMA), in collaboration with the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD). This report focuses on Medicaid policy changes planned for FY 2021, particularly those related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This brief analyzes Medicaid enrollment and spending trends for FY 2020 and FY 2021 based on data provided by state Medicaid directors as part of the 20th annual survey of Medicaid directors in states across the country and the District of Columbia. After relatively flat enrollment growth in FY 2020, states responding to the survey expect Medicaid enrollment to jump in FY 2021, attributed to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act “maintenance of eligibility” (MOE) requirements and to the economic downturn that started late in FY 2020. Across all reporting states, states were anticipating that total Medicaid spending growth would accelerate in FY 2021 compared to FY 2020. Enrollment was the primary factor identified as putting upward pressure on expenditure growth in FY 2021.
Millions of low-income Americans currently covered by Medicaid likely would become uninsured if the Supreme Court were to strike down the Affordable Care Act in California v. Texas, a legal challenge the high court is scheduled to hear in early November, KFF experts explain in a new Policy Watch post.
The debate over filling the Supreme Court seat previously held by Ruth Bader Ginsburg has brought renewed attention to the possibility of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) being overturned under the court challenge in California v. Texas, currently scheduled to be heard shortly after the election this November. The expansion of Medicaid was a central component of the ACA, and 39 states have now adopted the ACA expansion into their Medicaid programs. Because Medicaid is administered by states, under federal guidelines, there may be some confusion about how overturning the federal law would affect state Medicaid programs.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2020 State & Foreign Operations (SFOPs) appropriations bill (and accompanying report) on May 16, 2019. The SFOPs bill includes funding for U.S. global health programs at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
More than two years into President Trump administration's promotion of an "America First" approach to international affairs, the April 2019 KFF Health Tracking Poll examines the public's attitudes toward key global health issues, including views on the U.S. role in world affairs and global health, and support for global health spending.
This issue brief describes the two primary sources of health center revenue—Medicaid and Section 330 grant funding. The evolution of these funding streams has contributed to significant growth in the health center program, enabling expanded services to millions of additional residents of the nation’s most medically underserved rural and urban communities.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides enhanced federal matching funds to states that expand Medicaid to nonelderly adults up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL, $17,236/year for an individual in 2019). The ACA enhanced match (93% in 2019, and 90% in 2020 and thereafter) is substantially higher than states’ traditional Medicaid matching rate. A few states have sought Section 1115 demonstration waiver authority from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to receive the substantially higher ACA enhanced match while limiting coverage to individuals at 100% FPL, instead of covering the full 138% FPL ACA group. To date, CMS has allowed states to receive the ACA enhanced Medicaid matching funds only if the entire expansion group is covered. CMS has not approved waiver requests seeking enhanced ACA matching funds for a partial coverage expansion in Arkansas or Massachusetts, while a request is pending in Utah. This brief explores the current rules for partial expansion and explains some of the potential implications for financing and coverage if CMS approves waivers to allow for partial expansion with enhanced matching funds.
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