Medicaid

new and noteworthy

Medicaid Work RequiremEnts

Key Issues for the Medical Frailty Exemption from Medicaid Work Requirements

CMS has released new guidance on Medicaid work requirements. For background on the medical frailty exemption, one of the key issues in the new rule, check out KFF's explainer. KFF is closely tracking how states are approaching implementation of Medicaid work requirements and navigating related challenges.

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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701 - 710 of 2,707 Results

  • Utilization and Spending Trends in Medicaid Outpatient Prescription Drugs, 2015-2019

    Issue Brief

    Prescription drug spending in Medicaid and other health programs has returned to the national policy debate. This analysis examines Medicaid outpatient prescription drug utilization and spending before rebates over the 2015 to 2019 period, which is helpful for understanding recent cost drivers and areas for targeted policy action.

  • Potential Impact of Additional Federal Funds for Medicaid HCBS for Seniors and People with Disabilities

    Issue Brief

    The American Rescue Plan includes a provision to increase the federal matching rate (FMAP) for spending on Medicaid HCBS by 10 percentage points from April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022 provided states maintain state spending levels as of April 1, 2021. This brief discusses the proposal and provides state by state estimates of the potential effects of the policy change. It was updated on May 28 to include key points from the new CMS…

  • The Pandemic Has Exacerbated Long-Standing Health Care Challenges Faced By Puerto Rico and Other U.S. Territories as the End of Temporary Federal Medicaid Funding Approaches

    News Release

    A new KFF analysis examines how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting U.S. territories as well as issues related to the upcoming expiration of temporary Medicaid funding for the territories at the end of September. Prior to the pandemic, the U.S territories –– American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) -- faced an array of longstanding fiscal and health challenges that were exacerbated by…

  • Challenges in the U.S. Territories: COVID-19 and the Medicaid Financing Cliff

    Issue Brief

    More than a year into the public health emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the lives of Americans including those living in the U.S. territories. Differences in Medicaid financing, including a statutory cap and match rate, have contributed to broader fiscal and health systems challenges for the territories. While additional federal funds have been provided over the statutory caps, these funds are set to expire at the end of September 2021. Without additional Congressional…

  • New Analysis Summarizes Recent Research on the Effects of ACA Medicaid Expansion, Providing Context for Renewed Expansion Debates in States

    News Release

    New federal financial incentives for Medicaid expansion and the increased reliance on Medicaid as a coverage safety net during the pandemic have renewed debate in the 12 states that have not adopted the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. A new KFF literature review provides context for these expansion debates by summarizing evidence from nearly 200 studies about the effects of Medicaid expansion that were published between February 2020 and March 2021. These studies…

  • Potential Implications of Policy Changes in Medicaid Drug Purchasing

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines how leading federal and state policy options related to changes in Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP), drug pricing, and payment and management of the Medicaid prescription drug would affect state and federal governments as well as private industry (including drug manufacturers, managed care organizations, and pharmacies).

  • Federal Medicaid Outlays During the COVID-19 Pandemic

    Issue Brief

    This data note analyzes federal Medicaid outlays before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the one year since the onset of the pandemic, federal Medicaid outlays totaled $500.8 billion and grew by 19.5%, compared to 6.3% growth in the one year before the pandemic.