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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  • Medicaid as a Potential New Third Rail of US Politics

    Perspective

    In this JAMA Forum column, KFF's Larry Levitt examines Medicaid's growing political importance and the potential double whammy that could hit state Medicaid programs next year with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and a possible simultaneous recession.

  • Impact of Coronavirus on Community Health Centers

    Issue Brief

    Community health centers are a national network of safety net primary care providers that fill an important role in national, state, and local responses to the coronavirus pandemic. This brief presents findings from new data that provide insights into how health centers are adapting their services in response to the pandemic and how coronavirus is affecting their operations and long-term financial outlook with patient visits and revenue from those visits dropping precipitously.

  • Eligibility for ACA Health Coverage Following Job Loss

    Issue Brief

    As unemployment claims skyrocket amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, this analysis examines the potential loss of job-based coverage among people in families where someone lost employment between March 1 and May 2 and estimate their eligibility for ACA coverage as of May and January 2021, when most will have exhausted their unemployment benefits.

  • How Can Lessons from Medicaid Help Connect People to Unemployment Insurance?

    Issue Brief

    Millions of people are losing jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic and seeking financial assistance through Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs. While UI can provide an important source of temporary assistance for many people losing jobs, there have been reports of major challenges accessing UI benefits. Over time, states have significantly streamlined Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) application and enrollment processes to overcome many similar challenges to connect eligible people to health insurance coverage. As such, previous experience enrolling individuals into Medicaid and CHIP can provide lessons learned that could help inform efforts to connect people to UI. This brief summarizes some key lessons learned and discusses how states could potentially apply these lessons to UI.

  • Key Questions About the New Medicaid Eligibility Pathway for Uninsured Coronavirus Testing

    Issue Brief

    In response to the need to increase access to testing during the COVID-19 pandemic, recent federal legislation, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, amended by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, creates a new optional Medicaid eligibility pathway, with 100% federal matching funds, for states to cover coronavirus testing and testing-related services for uninsured individuals. This new option is available from March 18, 2020 through the end of the public health emergency period. This issue brief answers key questions about how the new eligibility pathway is being implemented, drawing on frequently asked questions issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

  • Key Questions About the New Increase in Federal Medicaid Matching Funds for COVID-19

    Issue Brief

    Recent federal legislation, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, amended by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, authorizes a 6.2 percentage point increase in federal Medicaid matching funds to help states respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This issue brief answers key questions about the new federal funds, drawing on two sets of frequently asked questions about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and CARES Act issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).