Medicaid

new and noteworthy

An Early Look at States’ Differing Approaches to Implementing Medicaid Work Requirements Amid Cost and Time Constraints and Uncertainty

A new KFF survey of state Medicaid officials and focus groups in eight states captures the different choices states are making about how to implement Medicaid work requirements, with seven states planning for a more restrictive approach to verifying work or exemption status or to implement work requirements early. These implementation plans are taking shape as states encounter time, cost, and other constraints as well as uncertainty about how to define and verify certain exemptions due to delayed federal guidance.

Medicaid Work Requirements

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 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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  • To Hospitalize or Not to Hospitalize? Medical Care for Long-Term Care Facility Residents

    Report

    To Hospitalize or Not to Hospitalize? Medical Care for Long-Term Care Facility Residents This report explores factors that appear to drive relatively high rates of hospitalizations, based on interviews with doctors, nursing home staff and families in four cities. Key factors include liability concerns, limited onsite staff capabilities, difficulty reaching residents' physicians for care instructions on nights and weekends, better and more timely access to diagnostic tests in hospitals, and patient preferences. Physicians with patients…

  • New Reports Find States Expecting 7.4 Percent Growth in Medicaid Spending In Fiscal Year 2011 As the Recession’s Lingering Effects Drive Up Enrollment

    News Release

    States Face New Budget and Workforce Challenges As Temporary Federal Aid Nears End And Health Reform Planning Heats Up WASHINGTON, D.C. – Due to the nation’s deep recession, states experienced rapid growth in their Medicaid enrollment and spending last year and expect additional growth, though at a slower pace, in fiscal year 2011, according to a survey of state Medicaid officials in all 50 states released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and…

  • Article and Policy Forum Examine Medicare, Health Reform and the Challenges Facing People With Disabilities

    Event Date:
    Event

    Wednesday, Sept. 8, the Foundation held a policy workshop examining Medicare, health reform and the challenges facing people with disabilities. Younger Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities are much more likely than seniors in the program to report problems accessing and paying for needed medical services, Kaiser Family Foundation researchers report in this Health Affairs article. Based on a national random-sample survey of people on Medicare, the study finds that half of nonelderly disabled beneficiaries report problems…

  • Briefing on State Medicaid Programs, the Recession and Health Reform

    Event Date:
    Event

    The Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) held a 9:30 a.m. ET briefing on Thursday, September 30 to examine the challenges facing states as they continue to struggle with the lingering impacts of the recession and begin preparing to implement health reform. Three reports were released at the event: Hoping for Economic Recovery, Preparing for Reform: A Look at Medicaid Spending, Coverage and Policy Trends: Results from a 50-State Medicaid Budget…

  • Health Reform and State Workforce Challenges: An Early Look at Five States

    Report

    This report provides an early look at state efforts to prepare for health reform, examining the experiences to date in five states (Connecticut, Michigan, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Washington). The report finds that the state political environment and expected leadership transitions create uncertainties and are already factoring into state strategies on health reform implementation. State leaders dealing with an aging workforce, hiring constraints, and the toll from the recession also see a need for additional…

  • Health Reform Roundtables: Charting A Course Forward

    Report

    Health Reform Roundtables: Charting A Course Forward is a series of discussions among federal officials, state officials and outside experts that provides an opportunity to share insights and explore key issues related to implementing a significant expansion of the Medicaid program as part of the new health reform law that will require most U.S. citizens and legal residents to obtain health coverage. States will be largely responsible for implementing the Medicaid expansion, which will provide…

  • Expanding Coverage to Adults through Medicaid Under Health Reform: Key Issues to Consider for Implementation

    Issue Brief

    The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured convened a roundtable discussion on June 23, 2010 with a group of federal and state officials and experts to discuss key issues related to reaching, enrolling and delivering care to adults in Medicaid under health reform. The discussion focused in particular on non-disabled adults without dependent children (often referred to as "childless adults") who have historically been ineligible for the program. When the new coverage goes into…

  • Care and Coverage of the Nation’s Children: A Resource Page

    Fact Sheet

    Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are serving as an important safety-net for children during the current recession. These programs have contributed to a decrease in the uninsured rate for children, but many eligible children remain uninsured despite the availability of Medicaid and CHIP coverage today. Provisions to strengthen coverage for children are included in both the 2009 Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of…

  • Optimizing Medicaid Enrollment: Spotlight on Technology – Louisiana’s Express Lane Eligibility

    Issue Brief

    This piece looks at how Louisiana uses “express lane eligibility" to increase and streamline the enrollment of low-income children in its Medicaid program. It is the first in a Spotlight on Technology series profiling several states' innovative applications of technology to Medicaid enrollment efforts. The series illustrates a range of approaches that states can adopt to improve their systems now and to prepare for the expansion of Medicaid under health reform. Spotlight (.pdf)