Medicaid

new and noteworthy

5 Facts: Medicaid Fraud, Waste, Abuse and Improper Payments

Program integrity efforts work to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse; increase program transparency and accountability; and recover improper payments. This brief explains what we know about these issues and efforts to address program integrity.

Medicaid: What to Watch in 2026

Medicaid: What to Watch in 2026

In this brief, KFF explores how state fiscal pressures are likely to converge with the implementation of the 2025 reconciliation law to affect Medicaid coverage, financing, and access to care over the next year, especially leading up to the midterm elections.

Medicaid Watch

Featuring policy research, polling and news about how Medicaid is changing, and the impact of those changes due to the tax and spending cuts law

Medicaid and work

Tracking Medicaid Work Requirements:
Data and Policies

To implement Medicaid work requirements, states will need to make important policy and operational decisions, implement needed system upgrades or changes, develop new outreach and education strategies, and hire and train staff, all within a relatively short timeframe. The information tracked here can serve as a resource to understand Medicaid work requirements and state options, gauge readiness, and track implementation of the requirements.

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 and Provider Taxes

All states except Alaska cover some state Medicaid costs with taxes on health care providers. This brief uses data from KFF’s 2024-2025 survey of Medicaid directors to describe current practices and the federal rules governing them.

5 Facts: 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 in 2025

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.

5 Facts: 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.

2025 Medicaid Home Care survey

Payment Rates Ahead of 2025 Reconciliation Law

This issue brief describes Medicaid payment rates for home care and other workforce supports that are in place in 2025, before the majority of the 2025 reconciliation law provisions start taking effect.

Home Care Support for Family Caregivers in 2025
number of responding states, including DC, that allow payments for family caregivers by type of home care program and type of caregiver.

This issue brief describes the availability of self-directed services and supports for family caregivers in Medicaid home care in 2025, before most provisions in the reconciliation law take effect.

States’ Management of Home Care Spending

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.

Waiting Lists for Medicaid Home Care, 2016 to 2025
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.

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.

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  • Medicaid’s Role for Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines the role of Medicaid in providing health coverage to the 9.6 million Medicare beneficiaries who are also eligible for Medicaid. The brief explains the role Medicaid plays in providing supplemental coverage to fill in the gaps in Medicare’s coverage for these dual-eligible beneficiaries.

  • How Will The Uninsured Be Affected By Health Reform?

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines who the uninsured are and explores how they could be affected by health reform, including estimates of how many might qualify for coverage under a Medicaid expansion, how many would be eligible for subsidies and how many would not be eligible for such help. Issue Brief (.

  • Health Insurance Coverage Of Low-Income Women

    Fact Sheet

    Low-income women's high rate of health problems and limited economic resources make access to health care and adequate health insurance coverage particularly important. Health coverage, whether through the private sector or publicly through Medicaid, has been demonstrated to improve access to care for low-income women.

  • Health Insurance for Unemployed Workers

    Event Date:
    Event

    Submitted testimony of Diane Rowland, executive director of the Commission, about health insurance options for unemployed workers. She was scheduled to testify to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, but the hearing was postponed.

  • A Look at the Economic Effects of the Pandemic for Children

    Issue Brief

    Federal policymakers have taken several actions to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic on families and children by providing state fiscal relief, increased nutrition assistance, Medicaid funding, and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); however, some of this assistance has or will expire. This brief examines hardship across three metrics—difficulty paying for normal household expenses, food sufficiency, and uncertainty in paying for rent or mortgage payments for households with children and by income.

  • Medicaid: What to Watch in 2023

    Issue Brief

    As 2023 kicks off, a number of issues are at play that could affect coverage and financing under Medicaid. This issue brief examines key issues to watch in Medicaid in the year ahead.

  • Medicaid and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

    Policy Watch

    The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) includes a number of climate, tax, and health care provisions and prescription drug reforms. This policy watch explores the potential impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act on overall Medicaid spending as well as implications for Medicaid beneficiaries.