Medicaid’s Future

This issue brief provides an overview of Medicaid spending and enrollment growth with a focus on state fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Findings are based on data provided by state Medicaid directors as part of the 21st annual survey of Medicaid directors in states and the District of Columbia conducted by KFF and Health Management Associates (HMA). Findings examine changes in overall enrollment and spending growth.

The October KFF Health Tracking Poll explores experiences with unpaid caregiving, and favorability of expansion of home and community based services (HCBS). It also examines experiences with difficulty affording and putting of health care services among seniors, favorability of the ACA and experience with determining eligibility for lower cost insurance as part of the COVID relief package.

A new KFF analysis examines key characteristics of children with special health care needs, the affordability and adequacy of their health coverage, and the implications for such children of potential new federal Medicaid money to assist families in caring for them. Medicaid is a significant source of coverage for medical,…

This issue brief provides context for ongoing policy discussions by describing key characteristics of children with special health care needs, comparing insurance affordability and access to key benefits among those covered by Medicaid/CHIP and those with private insurance, and considering the implications of additional Medicaid HCBS funding for children with special health care needs.

Our review of recent literature on premiums and cost-sharing is based on studies and reports published between 2017 and 2021. Our analysis of premiums in post-Affordable Care Act (ACA) Section 1115 waivers (approved under the Obama and Trump administrations) is based on available interim and final waiver evaluations as well as annual and quarterly state data reports posted on Medicaid.gov.

On June 23, 2021, a circuit court decision in Missouri put the state’s expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in limbo. This decision, if upheld, has implications for coverage in the state as well as the availability of federal financing to cover the cost.

This issue brief describes key characteristics of SSI enrollees, explains the SSI eligibility criteria and eligibility determination process, and considers the implications of changes in the SSI program for Medicaid, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn as well as proposals supported by President Biden that Congress might consider.

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…

This literature review report summarizes evidence from nearly 200 studies on the effects of Medicaid expansion published between February 2020 and March 2021. These studies generally find beneficial impacts of expansion across a range of areas.

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.