Medicaid

In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman explores how America’s big health care programs — Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — provide popular benefits valued by Americans from across the political spectrum. As partisan debates move closer to legislation, people may focus more on their personal financial concerns.

On October 8, 2024, Vice President Harris has proposed to expand Medicare to provide home care to help families who are struggling with the costs of long-term care. If enacted, this would be the first major expansion of Medicare since the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 that added a prescription drug benefit to the program.

KFF’s analysis provides an overview of total Medicaid spending per enrollee (state and federal shares) by eligibility group and state in 2021. Variation in per-enrollee Medicaid spending is driven by state Medicaid policy choices, like eligibility levels, benefits, and provider payments, as well as factors like state demographics and health costs.

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris have taken widely different stances and approaches on recognizing and addressing racial and ethnic disparities. These differences can be seen across areas of health care, including health coverage, reproductive and maternal health, and immigrant health and well-being and are likely to have important implications for future efforts to address health disparities.

This brief examines current Medicaid eligibility policies and enrollment patterns using data from KFF’s 2024 50-state survey of states’ eligibility and enrollment policies for seniors and people with disabilities, and 2021 Medicare and Medicaid claims data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

This issue brief merged beneficiary-level Medicare and Medicaid data from 2021 to document sources of coverage for dual-eligible individuals nationwide and by state.

disparity, Disparities