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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  • More Children are Losing Medicaid Coverage as Child Poverty Grows 

    News Release

    Children’s Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment declined by 5.5%, or 2.3 million children, from March 2023, before the unwinding began, to September 2023, according to KFF’s latest analysis. Across all 50 states and DC, at least 14,377,000 people were disenrolled from Medicaid between April 1 and January 9, 2024.

  • Medicaid: What to Watch in 2024

    Issue Brief

    As the start of 2024, many issues are at play that will affect Medicaid coverage, financing, and access. This issue brief provides context for these Medicaid issues and highlights key issues to watch in the year ahead.

  • What Would Another Trump Presidency Mean for Health Care?

    Perspective

    In a new column in JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt, KFF’s executive vice president for health policy, explores what a second Trump presidency might mean for health policy based on his record and remarks, including potentially weakening the Affordable Care Act, reducing federal Medicaid costs, and restricting access to abortion.

  • Behavioral Health Crisis Response: Findings from a Survey of State Medicaid Programs

    Issue Brief

    Crisis behavioral health services provide access to trained mental health professionals for individuals experiencing mental health or substance use emergencies--an alternative to emergency departments and law enforcement. About three-quarters of responding state Medicaid programs do not cover all three core crisis services for FFS adults, but most states cover at least one core behavioral health crisis service. As crisis response systems continue to grow and expand, states are navigating a variety of concerns—including workforce shortages, training needs, geographic challenges, and uncertainty about sustainable funding.

  • New KFF Focus Groups Reveal Medicaid Enrollee Experiences During Unwinding

    News Release

    Over six months after the expiration of pandemic-era enrollment protections, at least 27 million Medicaid enrollees—or roughly one-in-three enrollees across the country—have completed their state’s eligibility renewal process for the program. Over 18 million people have had their coverage renewed and over 10 million have been disenrolled, as of November 8, 2023.

  • Summary of the 2018 CHIP Funding Extension

    Fact Sheet

    On January 22, 2018, Congress passed a six-year extension of CHIP funding as part of a broader continuing resolution to fund the federal government. Federal funding for CHIP had expired on September 30, 2017. Without additional funding available, states operated their CHIP programs using remaining funds from previous years. However, some states came close to exhausting funding, leading them to make contingency plans to reduce coverage and notify families of potential coverage reductions. In late December 2017, Congress provided some short-term funding for early 2018, but some states still expected to exhaust funds by March 2018. The six-year funding extension provides stable funding for states to continue their CHIP coverage. This fact sheet provides a summary of key provisions of the CHIP funding extension.