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 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

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  • Medicaid and State Financing: What to Watch in Upcoming State Budget Debates

    Issue Brief

    State legislatures are currently gathering to develop new budgets for state fiscal year (FY) 2025. Heading into this budget cycle, state fiscal conditions are shifting, with state revenues starting to decline following steep revenue growth during the pandemic. This issue brief examines trends in state fiscal conditions and discusses how state budgets and macroeconomic conditions may affect individuals and state Medicaid programs.

  • How Does Use of Medicaid Wraparound Services by Dual-Eligible Individuals Vary by Service, State, and Enrollees’ Demographics?

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief describes the share of dual-eligible individuals with full Medicaid benefits who use wraparound services, including institutional LTSS, home- and community-based services (HCBS), vision services, dental care, and non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT); and how use of these services varies by state and select demographic characteristics of enrollees.

  • 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.

  • Halfway Through the Medicaid Unwinding, About 16 Million Enrollees Have Been Dropped

    News Release

    Ten months into the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision, states have reported renewal outcomes for half of all enrollees whose eligibility needs to be reviewed during the unwinding period, including 34% (32.1 million) who have had their coverage renewed, and 17% (16.2 million) who have been disenrolled, according to KFF’s latest analysis of state-level data. There are reasons to expect disenrollment rates to moderate in the second half of the unwinding as states…

  • The Collision of Medicaid World Views

    From Drew Altman

    In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman writes about the fundamentally different world views of the Medicaid program by Republicans and Democrats and how those ideological divides have affected policy proposals, sometimes despite the program's popularity and broad reach.

  • The Impact of the Pandemic on Well-Child Visits for Children Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief examines well-child visit rates overall and for selected characteristics before and after the pandemic began and discusses recent state and federal policy changes that could impact children’s preventive care. More than half of children under age 21 enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP received a well-child visit in 2019, but the share fell to 48% in 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Is Medicaid Too Big to… Block Grant?

    From Drew Altman

    In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman examines how the politics around the Medicaid program have changed as it has grown much larger and more popular, making it even tougher to block grant the program to cut federal Medicaid spending and hand it off to the states.

  • Explainer: How States Are Using Medicaid Waivers to Help Incarcerated Individuals Get Care and Transition Back into Their Communities 

    News Release

    Compared to the general population, individuals who are incarcerated have higher rates of mental illness, substance use disorder, and chronic disease. However, the federal “inmate exclusion” policy prohibits Medicaid coverage for people who are incarcerated (except for limited inpatient hospital services). When people leave incarceration, they are at greater risk of overdose death and suicide, as well as hospitalization and emergency department use.  In a new explainer, KFF examines a new waiver opportunity that allows…

  • Variation in Use of Dental Services by Children and Adults Enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP

    Issue Brief

    Oral health is key to overall health and well-being, and the use of dental services helps prevent and treat dental disease and improves oral health. The prevalence of unmet oral health needs is higher among people with low incomes, including those with Medicaid. This issue brief describes Medicaid dental coverage, examines the use of dental services for children and adults in Medicaid, and discusses current challenges and policy changes that impact access to oral health…