Medicaid

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Medicaid work requirements

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

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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 uses data from KFF’s 2024-2025 survey of Medicaid directors to describe current practices and the federal rules governing them.

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.

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  • What Could a Medicaid Per Capita Cap Mean for Low-Income People on Medicare?

    Issue Brief

    Policymakers are currently considering proposals that would fundamentally change the structure and financing of Medicaid, and potentially affect 11 million people on Medicare. This brief discusses the potential implications of Medicaid per capita cap or block grant proposals for the 11 million low-income seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare. It also describes how the per capita cap model proposed in the American Health Care Act could potentially affect low-income people on Medicare who receive…

  • Brief Examines State Requests to Impose Work Requirements in Medicaid

    News Release

    The proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA) includes a state option to make Medicaid eligibility for nondisabled, nonelderly, non-pregnant adults conditional upon satisfaction of a work requirement. Although the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services denied all state Section 1115 waiver requests to institute such work requirements under the Obama administration, earlier this month the Trump administration signaled in a letter to governors that CMS now would be open to considering such proposals. A new…

  • Most States Would Have Seen Declines in Federal Medicaid Funds from 2001 to 2011 Under a Per Enrollee Spending Cap Limiting Growth to Medical Inflation

    News Release

    A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that the majority of states would have gotten less in federal Medicaid funding from 2001 to 2011 if Medicaid financing had been based on a per capita cap. The analysis looked at what would have happened if spending growth per Medicaid enrollee had been limited to growth in the medical care component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI-M) during that period. This spending growth limit is…

  • Medicaid Restructuring Under the American Health Care Act and Implications for Behavioral Health Care in the US

    Issue Brief

    This brief outlines Medicaid’s role for people with behavioral health conditions and the implications of the American Health Care Act for these enrollees. It includes information on the potential impact of ending the enhanced federal financing for newly eligible adults, removing essential health benefits from state plan amendments, and converting federal Medicaid funding into a per capita cap.

  • Data Note: Three Findings about Access to Care and Health Outcomes in Medicaid

    Issue Brief

    The Medicaid program covers 74 million low-income Americans, including many of the poorest and sickest people in our society. Among those served are pregnant women and children, parents and other adults, poor seniors, and people with disabilities. Given Medicaid’s major coverage role and the complex needs of the populations it covers, data and evidence on access to care and health outcomes in Medicaid are of key interest. Such an assessment is also important to ensure…

  • Data Note: What if Per Enrollee Medicaid Spending Growth Had Been Limited to CPI-M from 2001-2011?

    Issue Brief

    Congress is currently debating the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and also make substantial changes to the structure and financing of Medicaid. Among other provisions, the AHCA would use a per capita cap policy to cap federal funds to states for Medicaid. This data note examines what the implications of tying per enrollee growth to CPI-M would have been for the 2001-2011 period for federal…

  • 11 Million People on Medicare Are Also Covered by Medicaid. What Could Switching to a Medicaid Per Capita Cap Mean for Them?

    News Release

    A major structural change to Medicaid financing such as the per capita cap system called for under the American Health Care Act could have significant implications for the 11 million seniors and people with disabilities who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, according to a new brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation. One in five Medicare beneficiaries relies on Medicaid for premium and cost-sharing assistance and to pay for services not covered by Medicare,…

  • Who Are the 7 Million Nonelderly Adults with Disabilities in Medicaid and What Would the House GOP Bill to Restructure Medicaid Financing and Repeal the Affordable Care Act Mean for Them?

    News Release

    A new brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation explains the role that Medicaid plays for nearly 7 million nonelderly adults with disabilities in the U.S. and explores what the American Health Care Act could mean for their health care and coverage. Medicaid covers more than three in 10 nonelderly adults with disabilities, including people with physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries; intellectual or developmental disabilities such…