Medicaid

new and noteworthy

Medicaid/CHIP Monthly Enrollment Tracker

Medicaid enrollment declined by 5 million people (6%) from May 2025 through May 2026. Child enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP declined in 49 states and DC, and adult enrollment dropped in all but five states (IA, MO, NC, OK, SD). KFF's tracker presents the most recent Medicaid enrollment data by month and state.

Medicaid work requirements

Medicaid and the Road Ahead: Spending Cuts, Work Requirements and What’s Next for States, Providers and Families

Event Date:

Passed last year, President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act made significant changes to Medicaid—the primary insurance provider for health and long-term care for people with low incomes. These changes are expected to lead to coverage loss for many current enrollees and will reduce funding for Medicaid, placing new financial pressures on states and health care providers. On July 23, KFF and States Newsroom hosted an event focused on the impacts of work requirements and other federal policy changes on states, health care systems, and people.

understanding medicaid

Medicaid Financing

Medicaid represents $1 out of every $5 spent on health care in the U.S. and is the major source of financing for states to provide health coverage and long-term care. This brief examines key questions about Medicaid financing and how it works.

Medicaid Program Integrity

This brief explains what is known about improper payments and fraud and abuse in Medicaid and describes ongoing state and federal actions to address program integrity.

Medicaid and Provider Taxes

All states except Alaska cover some state Medicaid costs with taxes on health care providers. This brief describes states’ current provider taxes and explores how rules governing provider taxes are changing.

Medicaid and Hospitals

Absorbing reductions in Medicaid spending could be challenging for hospitals, particularly for those that are financially vulnerable. This brief provides data on the reach of Medicaid across hospitals, patients, and charity care.

Medicaid Home Care

This issue brief provides an overview of what Medicaid home care (also known as “home- and community-based services”) is, who is covered, and what services were available in 2025.

Dual Eligibles

Stay informed.

Stay informed.

Filter

1,681-1,690 of 2,739 results

  • Report Finds State Costs of Implementing The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid Expansion Would Be Modest Compared to Increases in Federal Funds, and Some States Would See Net Savings

    News Release

    Washington, D.C. – A new report released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows modest state costs for implementing the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act compared to significant increases in federal funds, allowing some states to see net budget savings even as millions of low-income uninsured Americans gain health coverage. The new, updated analysis, conducted by John Holahan, Matt Buettgens, Caitlin Carroll and Stan Dorn at the Urban Institute for the Foundation's Commission…

  • Health Care on the Brink of the Fiscal Cliff

    Event Date:
    Event

    The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation present a November 16 briefing to discuss the components of this key policy crossroads with a particular emphasis on the implications for health programs and the health care industry. Automatic cuts would not apply to Medicaid, but Medicare providers would experience 2 percent payment cuts. The reductions would likely be larger for discretionary health programs, such as those funded as part of the National Institutes…

  • The Role of Medicaid for Adults With Chronic Illnesses

    Fact Sheet

    This report and related fact sheets provide data on spending, utilization, and access to care among low-income nonelderly adult Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic illnesses. Four fact sheets provide detail for beneficiaries with diabetes, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and behavioral health conditions The reports show that, despite relatively high prevalence of chronic conditions and, correspondingly, relatively high spending and utilization rates, Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic illness report better access to care than their uninsured counterparts, many…

  • Why Does Medicaid Spending Vary Across States: A Chartbook of Factors Driving State Spending

    Report

    This detailed chartbook provides an illustrative overview of some of the key factors that contribute to the substantial variation in Medicaid spending across states today. The chartbook provides a broad range of state-by-state data on subjects including state revenue and spending, the demand for public services, health care markets, and state Medicaid policy choices. Understanding this variation can be important for assessing state fiscal issues, the differences across states and their implications for federal and…

  • The Cost and Coverage Implications of the ACA Medicaid Expansion: National and State-by-State Analysis

    Report

    A central goal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to significantly reduce the number of uninsured by providing a continuum of affordable coverage options through Medicaid and new Health Insurance Exchanges. Following the June 2012 Supreme Court decision, states face a decision about whether to adopt the Medicaid expansion. These decisions will have enormous consequences for health coverage for the low-income population. This analysis uses the Urban Institute’s Health Insurance Policy…

  • Faces of the Medicaid Expansion: Experiences and Profiles of Uninsured Adults Who Could Gain Coverage

    Issue Brief

    These two papers provide insight into how state decisions to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are likely to impact people. Based on focus groups and interviews conducted in Cincinnati, Houston, Las Vegas and Tampa with uninsured adults who could be eligible for the Medicaid expansion in 2014, these papers highlight the experiences of uninsured adults and the significant health and financial consequences of being uninsured, which sometimes impact their ability to work and…

  • Best Bets for Reducing Medicare Costs for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries: Assessing the Evidence

    Report

    With pressure mounting to slow the growth in federal health care spending, policymakers are exploring ways to reform the way care is delivered to the 9 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries who also receive Medicaid – a group that on average is sicker and frailer than other Medicare beneficiaries, and therefore receive significantly more care at greater cost. Major efforts are underway at the federal and state level to better coordinate care for this population and…

  • Kaiser Family Foundation Resources on Deficit-Reduction Debate

    Report

    These Foundation resources shed light on how the ongoing national debate about deficit reduction may affect Medicare, Medicaid and other health-care programs. These resources include analysis of specific savings proposals, polling on the public’s views of deficit-reduction options, summaries and comparisons of relevant elements of major deficit-reduction plans, and explanatory briefs and backgrounders describing key issues related to the debate. Drew Altman: The News Media and Entitlement Reform   Medicare-Specific Analysis Policy Options to Sustain…