The percentage of Americans covered by the Medicaid public health insurance plan increased from **** percent in 2020 to around **** percent in 2023. However, the percentage of those insured through Medicaid remains lower than the peak of **** percent in 2015. The expansion of Medicaid The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided the option for states to expand Medicaid eligibility to people whose income was below a particular threshold. The ACA’s major coverage expansion came into force in 2014, and the number of individuals estimated to be enrolled in Medicaid has since surpassed ** million. More than ** million children were enrolled in the program in 2018, representing ** percent of overall Medicaid enrollment. State Medicaid coverage Initially, the ACA mandated that all state Medicaid programs would have to be extended to provide medical coverage to nearly all low-income groups. However, the Supreme Court rejected that part of the act in 2012, leaving the door open for states to make their own decision on whether they expand their plans. As of September 2021, ** states plus the District of Columbia have adopted the Medicaid expansion.

In 2020, around 66.5 percent of the U.S. population had private health insurance coverage. This share slightly decreased to 65.4 percent in 2023. Medicare and Medicaid together provided healthcare coverage to approximately 38 percent of the population in the United States. U.S. population with and without health insurance In 2022, over half of the U.S. population had health insurance coverage through their place of employment, around 54.5 percent. Approximately 35 percent had coverage through some form of government plan in the same year. While still low, the U.S. population without health insurance has decreased slightly from the previous year. A large portion of those without health insurance are between 19 and 25 years of age. Approximately 15 percent of adults in this age group did not have health insurance in 2021. Health expenditure The United States spent approximately 12,555 U.S. dollars per capita on health in 2022 while in comparison, the Canadian government expended some 6,319 U.S. dollars per capita in the same year. However, higher health spending did not equate to a better health system or outcomes and when ranked with other comparable high-income countries, the U.S. came in last on nearly all health performance categories from access of care to health outcomes.

In 2023, some 47.6 percent of Medicaid and CHIP enrollees were aged between 18 and 64 years, while adults aged 65 years accounted for only eight percent of enrollees. Medicaid program is funded jointly by the federal and the state governments, it provided coverage to nearly 19.5 percent of the U.S. population in 2022. Medicaid vs CHIPMedicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) both provide health insurance coverage for children from low-income families. Children who are not eligible for Medicaid but who would otherwise be unable to obtain insurance through a family plan are covered by CHIP. More than five million children were enrolled in CHIP in the U.S. in 2023. Medicaid and CHIP funding rateThe Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAPs) are used to calculate the amount of federal matching funds for State Medicare and CHIP programs. To encourage states to expand coverage for uninsured children the federal matching rates for CHIP are generally 15 points higher than the Medicaid rate. However, unlike permanent federal funding for Medicaid, CHIP federal funding is capped and due to expire in FY 2027.

Over ** million Americans were estimated to be enrolled in the Medicaid program as of 2023. That is a significant increase from around ** million ten years earlier. Medicaid is basically a joint federal and state health program that provides medical coverage to low-income individuals and families. Currently, Medicaid is responsible for ** percent of the nation’s health care bill, making it the third-largest payer behind private insurances and Medicare. From the beginning to ObamacareMedicaid was implemented in 1965 and since then has become the largest source of medical services for Americans with low income and limited resources. The program has become particularly prominent since the introduction of President Obama’s health reform – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - in 2010. Medicaid was largely impacted by this reform, for states now had the opportunity to expand Medicaid eligibility to larger parts of the uninsured population. Thus, the percentage of uninsured in the United States decreased from over ** percent in 2010 to *** percent in 2022. Who is enrolled in Medicaid?Medicaid enrollment is divided mainly into four groups of beneficiaries: children, adults under 65 years of age, seniors aged 65 years or older, and disabled people. Children are the largest group, with a share of approximately ** percent of enrollees. However, their share of Medicaid expenditures is relatively small, with around ** percent. Compared to that, disabled people, accounting for **** percent of total enrollment, were responsible for **** percent of total expenditures. Around half of total Medicaid spending goes to managed care and health plans.

Medicare is an important public health insurance scheme for U.S. adults aged 65 years and over. As of 2023, an estimated 18.9 percent of the U.S. population was covered by Medicare, an increase from the previous year. As of 2021, California, Florida, and Texas had the largest number of adults aged 65 years and older. The Medicare program Medicare has two primary parts: Medicare Part A covers hospital care and Medicare Part B covers medical and preventative services. Both parts of Medicare are available to those aged 65 years and older under certain conditions. Medicare premiums are variable and depend on the enrollee’s income. Despite a majority of the Medicare enrollees being above the federal poverty line, there are still several programs in place to help cover the costs of healthcare for the elderly. Opinions on elderly care in the U.S. It is estimated that about 23 percent of Medicare enrollees are in fair/poor health. But there are lots of questions about who should pay for or help with elderly care long-term. In a recent survey of U.S. adults, about half of the respondents said that health insurance companies should pay for elderly care. However, a majority of adults also supported a long-term government sponsored health plan like Medicaid. The issue is still hotly debated and politicized in the United States.

Children accounted for 36.5 percent of Medicaid enrollees in 2021, which was the largest share of all enrollment groups. The elderly and persons with disabilities had the smallest shares, but together they accounted for more than half of all Medicaid expenditure.

Medicaid expenditures per enrollee Medicaid is a joint federal and state health care program in the United States. The program provides medical coverage to millions of Americans and supports a variety of enrollment groups, particularly senior citizens and individuals with disabilities. Medicaid per enrollee spending is significantly higher for these two groups because they require more frequent and costly long-term care in the community and nursing homes. In 2022 of the total U.S. health expenditure on home health care, Medicaid paid one-third.

Millions of Americans are uninsured The United States has a multi-payer health care system, meaning that some Americans will be covered by private health insurance, and others will be covered by a government program such as Medicaid. However, approximately 27.6 million people in the U.S. had no health insurance in 2021, and should they require health care, they would have to pay the full price out of their own pocket. This becomes a real problem for many because the United States has the most expensive health care system in the world.

In 2023, just four in ten Medicaid/CHIP enrollees were White, non-Hispanic. In comparison, roughly three-quarters of Medicare beneficiaries were White. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion in 2014, has helped reduce racial disparities in access to healthcare in the United States. Medicaid eligibility Medicaid provides health coverage to certain low-income individuals, families, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Each state has its own Medicaid eligibility criteria in accordance with federal guidelines. As a result, Medicaid eligibility and benefits differ widely from state to state. Medicaid expansion provision under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows states to provide coverage for low-income adults by expanding eligibility for Medicaid to 138 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL). Medicaid coverage gap Uninsured individuals who live in states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are referred to as being in the Medicaid coverage gap. As of January 2021, 12 states have not adopted the Medicaid expansion provision under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). More than two million uninsured adults fall into this coverage gap, and among them, more than 60 percent are people of color.

California has more Medicaid and CHIP enrollees than any other state in the United States. As of April 2023, approximately ** million Americans were enrolled in the Medicaid health insurance programs in California, which accounted for approximately ** percent of the total number of Medicaid enrollees nationwide (**** million). Blow to Medicaid expansion plans California is one of many states that has expanded its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to encourage more low-income adults to sign up for health coverage. One of the original aims of the ACA was to limit some of the variations in state Medicaid programs, but the Supreme Court ruled that the expansion should be optional. Governors of the states that did not expand said they were concerned about long-term costs. California is the leading state for Medicaid expenditure, spending approximately **** billion U.S. dollars in FY2020. Health coverage for children The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was created as a complement to Medicaid, expanding the reach of government-funded health coverage to more children in low-income families. As of May 2021, over **** million children were enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP programs in California, more than any other state. As of January 2021, the median Medicaid/CHIP eligibility level for children was *** percent of the federal poverty level.

The percentage of people in the United States with health insurance has increased over the past decade with a noticeably sharp increase in 2014 when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted. As of 2023, around ** percent of people in the United States had some form of health insurance, compared to around ** percent in 2010. Despite the increases in the percentage of insured people in the U.S., there were still over ** million people in the United States without health insurance as of 2023. Insurance coverage Health insurance in the United States consists of different private and public insurance programs such as those provided by private employers or those provided publicly through Medicare and Medicaid. Almost half of the insured population in the United States were insured privately through an employer as of 2021, while **** percent of people were insured through Medicaid, and **** percent through Medicare . The Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in 2014, has significantly reduced the number of uninsured people in the United States. In 2014, the percentage of U.S. individuals with health insurance increased to almost ** percent. Furthermore, the percentage of people without health insurance reached an all time low in 2022. Public opinion on healthcare reform in the United States remains an ongoing political issue with public opinion consistently divided.

According to a survey done in March 2024, long wait times on the phone was the most common problem reported by 44 percent of Americans who tried to renew their Medicaid coverage last year before Medicaid unwinding. Another 26 percent mentioned that they did not know what documents were needed to complete re-enrollment. This statistic illustrates the types of problems Medicaid enrollees experienced when they tried to renew their coverage in 2023.

2022 saw the largest expenditures on Medicaid in U.S. history. At that time about 824 billion U.S. dollars were expended on the Medicaid public health insurance program that aims to provide affordable health care options to low income residents and people with disabilities. Medicaid was signed into law in 1965. By 1975 around 13 billion U.S. dollars were spent on the program.

Groups covered by Medicaid

There are several components of the Medicaid health insurance program. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was started in 1997 to provide health coverage to families and children that could not afford care. As of 2021, children represented the largest distribution of Medicaid enrollees. Despite having the largest proportion of enrollees, those that were enrolled in Medicaid as children had the lowest spending per enrollee. As of 2021, disabled Medicaid enrollees had the highest spending per enrollee.

Medicaid expenditures

Currently, Medicaid accounts for 19 percent of all health care expenditure in the United States. Expenditures on Medicaid programs vary among the U.S. states and depend heavily on whether Medicaid expansion was accepted after the Affordable Care Act was enacted. California and New York are the top states with the highest Medicaid expenditures. It is projected that Medicaid expenditure will continue to increase at both the state and federal levels.

Medicaid continues to provide comprehensive long-term care in the United States. In 2022, the program was estimated to have paid for 34.2 percent of all home health care and nearly 30 percent of nursing home care. In addition, Medicaid covered over 58 percent of other health, residential, and personal care, which includes payments for intermediate care facilities and other home- and community-based services.

Health care spending in the U.S. Medicaid expenditure accounted for around 16 percent of all U.S. health expenditures in 2021. Overall, health spending in the United States totaled 4.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020 – hospital care continues to be the largest spending category. Around 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars was spent on hospital care in 2020, and expenditures are projected to continue on an upward trajectory.

The high price of hospital care Medicare and Medicaid spend significant amounts of money on national health services, and for both programs, hospital care is the largest expense category. Hospital care spending by both Medicare and Medicaid grew by around 20 percent between 2013 and 2019. During the same period, private health insurance spending in this service category accelerated, rising by approximately 90 billion U.S. dollars.

As of August 1, 2024, approximately 2.5 million Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled in Texas, the highest number of people disenrolled across all states in the United States. Overall, more than 24.5 million people in the United States have lost their Medicaid coverage, the majority of those terminations were for so-called procedural reasons, which means that the enrollees did not finish the renewal process for various reasons.

In the fiscal year 2022, Medicaid expenditure in California amounted to a total of about 119 billion U.S. dollars, of which 81 billion U.S. dollars were federal-funded and approximately 38 billion U.S. dollars were state-funded. California had, as expected, the highest spending and also the largest number of people enrolled in Medicaid in the United States. The Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) varies by state depending on the state's per capita income compared to the national average.

There has been a noticeable shift in the distribution of expenditures among Medicaid long-term care services over the past three decades. In 1990, home- and community-based care accounted for 13 percent of the program’s long-term care costs, but this has risen to a majority share of approximately 65 percent by 2022. Institutional care rates continue to fall Medicaid spent approximately 32 billion U.S. dollars on long-term care services in 1990, and close to 90 percent of that went towards institutional care, such as nursing homes and other residential facilities. The decrease over recent years in the proportion of spending devoted to institutional care can be partly attributed to a push towards home- and community-based care. This expansion of services is growing in popularity because individuals can receive treatment in familiar surroundings and benefit from increased levels of comfort. State variations in long-term care costs Medicaid expenditures for long-term care services vary significantly from state to state, which is primarily due to each state being able to administer its Medicaid program differently. On average, Medicaid spent 19 percent on long-term care in 2022.

In fiscal year 2021, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) spent a total of about 20.9 billion U.S. dollars, of which 15.8 billion U.S. dollars were federal-funded and 5.1 billion U.S. dollars were state-funded. California had, as expected the highest spending and also the largest number of children enrolled in CHIP/Medicaid. The federal government matches spending for both Medicaid and CHIP, but has a higher match rate for CHIP than traditional Medicaid. The Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) varies by state depending on the state's per capita income compared to the national average. This statistic illustrates CHIP spending in the United States in FY 2021, by state and state & federal share.

As of 2023, nearly *** million people in the United States had some kind of health insurance, a significant increase from around *** million insured people in 2010. However, as of 2023, there were still approximately ** million people in the United States without any kind of health insurance. Insurance coverage The United States does not have universal health insurance, and so health care cost is mostly covered through different private and public insurance programs. In 2021, almost ** percent of the insured population of the United States were insured through employers, while **** percent of people were insured through Medicaid, and **** percent of people through Medicare. As of 2022, about *** percent of people were uninsured in the U.S., compared to ** percent in 2010. The Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA) significantly reduced the number of uninsured people in the United States, from **** million uninsured people in 2013 to **** million people in 2015. However, since the repeal of the individual mandate the number of people without health insurance has risen. Healthcare reform in the United States remains an ongoing political issue with public opinion on a Medicare-for-all plan consistently divided.

In fiscal year 2021, Medicaid spent 8,651 U.S. dollars per full-year equivalent enrollee. However, spending per enrollee varied by eligibility group with disabled enrollees costing the most per enrollee at 23,935 U.S. dollars. States also show large variations in Medicaid spending per enrollee. This statistic illustrates Medicaid benefit spending per full-year equivalent (FYE) enrollee in the United States in FY 2021, by eligibility group.

In fiscal year 2021, Medicaid spent 8,651 U.S. dollars per full-year equivalent enrollee. However, spending per enrollee varied by state with North Dakota spending the most per enrollee at 12,434 U.S. dollars, while in South Carolina each Medicaid enrollee cost 5,191 U.S. dollars. This statistic illustrates Medicaid benefit spending per full-year equivalent (FYE) enrollee in the United States in FY 2021, by state.

In 2023, 25 million people in the United States had no health insurance. The share of Americans without health insurance saw a steady increase from 2015 to 2019 before starting to decline in 2020 to 2023. Factors like the implementation of Medicaid expansion in additional states and growth in private health insurance coverage led to the decline in uninsured population, despite the economic challenges due to the pandemic in 2020. Positive impact of Affordable Care Act In the U.S. there are public and private forms of health insurance, as well as social welfare programs such as Medicaid and programs just for veterans such as CHAMPVA. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in 2010, which dramatically reduced the share of uninsured Americans, though there’s still room for improvement. In spite of its success in providing more Americans with health insurance, ACA has had an almost equal number of proponents and opponents since its introduction, though the share of Americans in favor of it has risen since mid-2017 to the majority. Persistent disparity among ethnic groups The share of uninsured people is higher in certain demographic groups. For instance, Hispanics continue to be the ethnic group with the highest rate of uninsured people, even after ACA. Meanwhile the share of uninsured White and Asian people is lower than the national average.