Medicaid’s Future

The inclusion of major Medicaid changes in both the American Health Care Act (AHCA) that passed in the House and the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) considered in the Senate revealed that is hard to gain consensus on significant cuts and reforms to Medicaid. Medicaid has broad general support and intense support from special populations served by the program. In addition, proposed changes would have different implications across states due to significant program variation across states, including implementation of the ACA Medicaid expansion as well as other health status, demographic and state fiscal circumstances.

The Graham-Cassidy proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is reviving the federal health reform debate and could come up for a vote in the Senate before the budget reconciliation authority expires on September 30. This fact sheet describes five ways in which the proposal revamps and cuts Medicaid, redistributes federal funds across states and eliminates coverage for millions of poor Americans.

A new health care bill recently introduced by a number of senators led by Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy would repeal major elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), make changes to other ACA provisions, and fundamentally alter federal Medicaid financing. In this brief, we estimate changes in federal funding due to the new block grant program and the Medicaid per enrollee cap on a state-by-state basis under the Graham-Cassidy bill relative to current law. We estimate that the Graham-Cassidy proposal would reduce federal funding for health coverage by $161 billion nationally from 2020-2026, with substantial variation across states.

The Senate is preparing to vote next week on the Graham-Cassidy proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and to cap the Medicaid program. A new state-by-state Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds that the major financing changes in the bill would reduce federal spending by $160 billion over…

This brief describes Medicaid’s role for veterans experiencing homelessness and provides insight into how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion has affected their coverage and access to care.

This brief examines family budgets of Medicaid enrollees, how health care costs fit into these budgets, and views on how potential changes to health care could affect them based on 21 interviews with Medicaid enrollees in five cities.

Medicaid provides health insurance coverage for about one in five Americans and is the largest payer for long-term care services in the community and nursing homes. Efforts in 2017 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and cap federal financing for Medicaid were unsuccessful but help to set the stage for 2018. As 2018 begins, there is a focus on administrative actions using Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration waivers, state actions on Medicaid expansion, and funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and other federal health care priorities. Medicaid in 2018 is also likely to continue to be part of both federal and state budget deliberations. Pressures to control the federal deficit may reignite efforts to reduce or cap federal Medicaid spending. In addition, Governors will soon release proposed budgets for state FY 2019 that will need to account for uncertainty around CHIP and Medicaid, changes in the economy and the effects of the recent tax legislation as well as funding for rising prescription drugs and initiatives to combat the opioid epidemic. This brief examines these issues.

With the 2018 midterm elections still about ten months away, the January Kaiser Health Tracking poll examines what issues voters most want 2018 midterm candidates to talk about during their upcoming campaigns. Health care is at the top of a group of issues but health care is less important to Republicans and among voters in battleground states. While Congress is currently debating a budget to keep the government funded beyond February 8, 2018, the poll also examines the public’s priorities for President Trump and Congress and measures support for reducing federal funding for government programs.

On Thursday, February 23, the Kaiser Family Foundation will host a web briefing for journalists to explain how block grant and per capita cap spending proposals for Medicaid would work and what the possible implications are.

Only One in Three Know the Tax Reform Law Repeals the ACA’s Unpopular Individual Mandate Health care and the economy and jobs top voters’ list as “the most important issue” for Congressional candidates to talk about ahead of November’s midterm elections, but the lineup shifts among voters in states and…