Medicaid

This issue brief describes recent trends in the number of Medicaid outpatient prescriptions and the spending on those drugs and examines how the pandemic and pandemic-era policies may have impacted those trends.

In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman explores how America’s big health care programs — Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — provide popular benefits valued by Americans from across the political spectrum. As partisan debates move closer to legislation, people may focus more on their personal financial concerns.

Changes related to Medicaid could have major consequences for health coverage of women with low incomes as well as pregnancy, postpartum and other reproductive health care for women. Here are the top five things to know about women and Medicaid ahead of the election.

Oral contraceptives are the most commonly used method of reversible contraception in the U.S. In July 2023, the FDA approved Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive pill to become available over the counter (OTC) without a doctor’s prescription. This issue brief provides an overview of OTC oral contraceptives and laws and policies related to insurance coverage.

This policy watch examines the burden of medical debt in North Carolina and the state’s new plan to leverage the Medicaid program to provide debt relief and support access to care for low- and middle-income North Carolinians.

Over 25 million people were disenrolled from Medicaid and over 56 million had their coverage renewed, according to KFF’s analysis of the outcomes of the Medicaid unwinding, which nearly all states have now completed.

Using data from the KFF Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, this analysis reports data on unwinding renewal outcomes through June 2024 and examines Medicaid enrollment changes from February 2020 through May 2024, the most recent federal enrollment data available, nationally and across states.

Under estate recovery, state Medicaid programs are required to recover the costs of long-term care and related hospital and prescription drug services for enrollees ages 55 and older. KFF examines the wide variation in estate recovery practices across states as well as the criticisms of this policy, which have led to federal proposals to modify or reduce it.

In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman explains why Medicaid, despite former President Donald Trump’s silence on the topic, warrants greater attention given the potential for drastic changes or cuts to it should Republicans win control in the election.

Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waivers offer states an avenue to test new approaches in Medicaid that differ from what is required by federal statute, so long as the approach is likely to “promote the objectives of the Medicaid program.” As with broader Medicaid policy, the future landscape of Section 1115 waivers depends on the outcome of the November 2024 presidential election as a new administration could focus on different priorities, rescind existing guidance, or withdraw already-approved waivers. This waiver watch summarizes five key areas of difference in 1115 waiver policy and waiver approvals under the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations.