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This KHN special series examines the reach and the role of Medicaid, the federal-state program that began as a medical program for the poor but now provides a wide variety of services for a large swath of America.
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Nearly all children in the foster care system are covered by Medicaid. Yet, foster parents still struggle to meet the extraordinary health needs of their children. To solve this, some states are experimenting with a coordinated approach to care — with mixed results.
McKinley County, N.M., has the nation’s highest rate of Medicaid enrollment, and people there say it is vital to battle daunting economic and public health challenges.
Medicaid family planning programs reduce unplanned births, but some are caught in disputes over federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
Medicaid payments allow struggling hospitals to maintain vital costly services such as maternity care.
Begun as a health care safety net for children and low-income families, Medicaid increasingly underwrites a range of services in America’s public schools.
Saving the lives of people with the bleeding disorder can require high doses of expensive blood-clotting factor. Taxpayers foot much of the bill as manufacturers profit enormously.
Requiring some Medicaid recipients to work or perform community service for their benefits has stirred controversy. KHN's Sarah Varney explores what the policy could mean for 30,000 low-income Hoosiers.
For more than 50 years, the program for the poor and sick has been required to ferry certain clients to and from medical appointments. But a few states have sought — and received — waivers to that rule.
Even though voters in Maine decided to expand Medicaid through a ballot measure, the law's fate is still unclear. Gov. Paul LePage says the Legislature must find funds for it without raising taxes. Advocates say the law is on their side and expansion must be implemented.
Seema Verma, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tells state officials that she envisions changes that could include work requirements for Medicaid enrollees.
Medicaid was created in 1965 as a program for the poor. Today, it helps 74 million people — more than 1 of every 5 people in the U.S. You or someone you know likely benefits.
Those relying on the federal government’s safety net are grandmothers, the kid next door, your supermarket cashier — maybe even you.
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