Medicaid

Work Requirements

Challenges with Implementing Work Requirements

Many states are anticipating a variety of implementation challenges, including the need for complex system changes, a compressed implementation timeline, and limited staff capacity.

What is the Medicaid Hardship Exception?

The number of Medicaid expansion enrollees who ultimately qualify for the high unemployment hardship exception will depend on how the exception is implemented and how unemployment rates changes.

Tracking Implementation of the 2025 Reconciliation Law: Medicaid Work Requirements

KFF’s interactive tracks key data and policies that will affect how states implement Medicaid work requirements, which are required under the 2025 budget reconciliation law starting in January 2027. The tracker includes state-level data on Medicaid enrollment and renewal outcomes as well as current state enrollment and renewal policies.

Medicaid Budget Survey

Medicaid Home Care

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.

A Look at Waiting Lists for Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services from 2016 to 2025

This data note provides new information about waiting lists in Medicaid home care before many of the provisions in the 2025 reconciliation law go into effect. The data come from KFF’s 23rd survey on Medicaid home care programs in all 50 states and DC.

KFF regularly surveys states about their Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs and their eligibility policies for people who are eligible for Medicaid on the basis of having a disability or being 65 and older.

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This issue brief provides an overview of what Medicaid home care (also known as “home- and community-based services” or HCBS) is, who is covered, and what services were available in 2024.

Eligibility and coverage
  • Eligibility, Enrollment, and Renewal Policies

    KFF's survey findings capture state actions that seek to improve the accuracy and efficiency of Medicaid and CHIP enrollment and renewal processes, as of January 2025.
  • Seniors and People with Disabilities

    More than 1 in 3 people with disabilities (15 million) have Medicaid (35%). In comparison, only 19% of people without disabilities have Medicaid.
  • Children with Special Needs

    Amid debates about proposed cuts to federal Medicaid spending, this brief analyzes key characteristics of children with special health care needs and explores how Medicaid provides them with coverage.
  • People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

    Among the estimated 8 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), over three million have Medicaid coverage.
  • Adults with Chronic Conditions

    Among working age adults enrolled in Medicaid, approximately three quarters have one or more chronic conditions, and nearly one-third have three or more.

The Essentials
  • 5 Facts: Immigrants and Medicaid

    This brief provides five key facts on Medicaid and immigrants as context for understanding the potential impacts of policy changes under the Trump administration.
  • 5 Facts: Medicaid and Hospitals

    This brief explains the role of Medicaid for hospitals, including how much spending on hospital care comes from Medicaid, the share of births covered by the program, and how Medicaid expansion has impacted hospital finances.
  • Medicaid Financing: The Basics

    Medicaid is a major source of financing for states to provide health coverage and long-term services and supports for low-income residents. This brief examines key questions about Medicaid financing and how it works.
  • 5 Facts: Medicaid’s Share of National Health Spending

    This brief explores how Medicaid spending contributes to national health spending and how different service areas contribute to Medicaid costs.
  • 5 Facts: Medicaid and Nursing Facilities

    The substantial Medicaid savings in the reconciliation bill could have major implications for nearly 15,000 federally certified nursing facilities and the 1.2 million people living in them.

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  • A Look At CBO Projections For Medicaid and CHIP

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines the latest Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections for federal Medicaid and CHIP spending over the 2014-2024 period. CBO’s budget projections, also known as “baseline” projections, reflect CBO’s best judgment about how the economy and other factors will affect federal revenues and spending under existing laws. The brief also examines CBO estimates of the coverage effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Medicaid and CHIP enrollment and spending. Understanding the CBO baseline estimates is important because they are the basis to evaluate the federal cost and coverage implications of proposed federal policy changes.

  • Two Year Trends in Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment Data: Findings from the CMS Performance Indicator Project

    Issue Brief

    This brief provides an overview of recent trends in Medicaid and CHIP enrollment as of January 2016, based on data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) produced as part of its Performance Indicator Project. The project was designed to provide timely data on Medicaid and CHIP eligibility and enrollment that are intended to help strengthen data-driven program management and oversight efforts at both the national and state level. They also provide insight into Medicaid and CHIP eligibility and enrollment experiences as the ACA is implemented. This brief examines data as of January 2016 to be able to look at two full years of data post implementation of the major coverage provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

  • What’s At Stake in the Future of the Kentucky Medicaid Expansion?

    Fact Sheet

    On June 22, 2016, Governor Bevin released his proposed Section 1115 demonstration waiver proposal called Kentucky HEALTH (Helping to Engage and Achieve Long Term Health) as an alternative to the current Medicaid expansion. This brief examines what has happened to coverage, access and utilization and the economic impact of the Medicaid expansion in Kentucky and the implications for changes going forward.

  • Medicaid’s Most Costly Outpatient Drugs

    Issue Brief

    Using Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data, this brief presents the 50 most costly drugs before rebates used by the Medicaid program over the January 2014 through June 2015 period. It then examines reasons why these drugs are so costly; explores case studies on opioids, hepatitis C drugs, and the drug Abilify; and considers policy implications.

  • Becoming Healthy Louisiana: System-Assisted Medicaid Enrollment

    Fact Sheet

    Enrollment in Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion, which began on June 1st, got off to a rapid start, with 233,794 new enrollees by June 30th. This robust beginning was due in large measure to months of behind-the-scenes work aimed at leveraging information from existing state systems to facilitate swift and seamless Medicaid enrollment. The state identified groups of people already participating in state-administered programs who are eligible for Medicaid under the new expansion, and quickly enrolled them through a combination of automatic transfers and the use of a federal option that relies on data from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) to significantly streamline enrollment. By using verified data on income and other eligibility factors available in state databases, Louisiana obviated the need for individuals to complete a separate Medicaid application or produce additional or duplicative verification documents.

  • Medicaid Coverage of Family Planning Benefits: Results from a State Survey

    Report

    This survey of states’ Medicaid family planning policies under fee-for-service finds wide coverage of most prescription contraceptives among 40 states and the District of Columbia (DC), but variable coverage of emergency contraceptives and other family planning-related services. It is the first published report on state coverage of family planning benefits since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

  • Findings from the Field: Medicaid Delivery Systems and Access to Care in Four States in Year Three of the ACA

    Issue Brief

    Based on case studies and focus groups, this brief reviews delivery systems and access to care for Medicaid enrollees in Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Washington as of Spring 2016. The findings provide an on-the-ground view of Medicaid delivery systems and enrollees’ experiences accessing care three years after implementation of the Medicaid expansion. This brief builds on previous reports that examined states’ preparation for implementation prior to the initial ACA open enrollment period and their experiences after completion of the first and second open enrollment periods.

  • State Medicaid Eligibility Policies for Individuals Moving Into and Out of Incarceration

    Issue Brief

    This brief highlights how state eligibility policies for incarcerated individuals differ, based on a review of state statutes, regulations, Medicaid eligibility manuals and other Medicaid agency guidance publicly available online and Medicaid managed care contracts. Overall, state Medicaid eligibility policies for justice-involved individuals moving into and out of incarceration vary, and these policies affect if and when individuals may enroll in Medicaid and the scope of any resulting savings.

  • Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Access to and Utilization of Care among Insured Adults

    Issue Brief

    This analysis based on data from the 2014 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans examines differences in access to and utilization of care for Black and Hispanic adults compared to White adults among those who are uninsured, enrolled in Medicaid, and privately insured. The findings suggest that gains in health coverage under the ACA will lead to improvements in access to care and utilization for White, Black, and Hispanic adults. They also highlight the importance of increased attention to addressing racial and ethnic disparities in access to and utilization of care among privately insured adults, particularly as the privately insured population becomes more diverse as a result of greater enrollment of people of color into private plans through the ACA Marketplaces.