Medicaid is once again facing the prospect of funding cuts and enrollment restrictions, including additional state Medicaid work requirements. What does this all mean for the millions of Americans who depend on Medicaid for their health care needs? Two Commonwealth Fund explainers provide an overview of the key issues: What Is Medicaid’s Value? illustrates how Medicaid and its eligibility expansion improve health care access and outcomes, how they impact state economies, and more. Work Requirements for Medicaid Enrollees describes the current status of state work requirement waivers, how these mandates are implemented, and what the evidence shows about their effects on enrollment, access to care, and employment.
How Medicaid Helps Your State
Whether it’s called BadgerCare, HUSKY Health, Medi-Cal, or something else, Medicaid plays a big role in each state’s health care system and economy. With increasing talk of federal cuts to state Medicaid programs, it’s more important than ever to understand the role Medicaid plays in people’s lives, in the functioning of state health care systems, and in state finances. New Commonwealth Fund state Medicaid fact sheets present this crucial information at a glance. Learn who and how many are covered, Medicaid’s importance to rural health, how many young people depend on Medicaid for behavioral health services, and more.
You might not know that 72 million Americans annually get health insurance and health care thanks to Medicaid. And that Medicaid is the largest health insurer — and covers half of all births. Take a moment to watch our short video explaining how Medicaid works, who it helps, and what it means for families and communities.
Treating the Symptoms of Discrimination in Health Care
Forty percent of U.S. primary care physicians said the health care system treats people differently based on their racial or ethnic background. While discrimination in health care isn’t unique to the U.S., its negative impact on Americans’ health may well be exceptional, according to researchers analyzing findings from the Commonwealth Fund’s latest International Health Policy Survey. The lack of universal health coverage, they say, compounds health disparities in the U.S., where people of color and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to have comprehensive insurance.
As of January 2025, how many states have CMS approval for Section 1115 waivers that allow Medicaid to cover certain health services for incarcerated people, and how many other states have waiver applications pending?
2 states approved, with 4 more pending
7 states approved, with 6 more pending
11 states approved, with 13 more pending
18 states approved, with 10 more pending
Scroll down to see if you got it right.
A New Approach to Affordable Long-Term Care
Most people will need long-term care at some point in their lives, but these services come with a high price tag. Next year, Washington State will enact what could be a partial solution to the affordability problem, writes Robert Saldin on To the Point. Under the new WA Cares program, workers will have a small portion of their income deducted from their paychecks. After 10 years, if they require help with at least three basic needs, they’ll be eligible for up to $36,500 in lifetime benefits.
Most hospitals have dashboards to track their performance on various metrics, from infection rates to patient satisfaction ratings. But what about tracking their carbon footprint? A new Commonwealth Fund feature story reports on the efforts of Providence, a health system with 51 hospitals in seven different states, to develop a scorecard for evaluating its impact on climate change. Using 155 metrics, the tool tracks everything from food waste to employee use of shared transportation. The modifications it’s inspired have reduced the health system’s carbon emissions by 13 percent while also achieving substantial cost savings.
The New York Times reported last month on strategies pediatricians are using to sway parents who are vaccine skeptics, including spending more time with families to address misconceptions about vaccine safety. Recently, Transforming Care described other strategies health care providers have used to counter medical mistrust.
QUIZ: Answer
The answer is C. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has approved these waivers for 11 states; applications from 13 other states are pending.
The federal waivers, while they cover different benefits and have different eligibility settings and coverage periods, expand Medicaid’s role in providing health care for people leaving jail or prison, who have disproportionately high morbidity and mortality rates. These expansions not only increase insurance coverage, but they can also decrease the risk of reincarceration and lower crime rates. On To the Point, Benjamin Barsky, James Jolin, and Meredith Rosenthal say there are gaps in evidence, however, about how expansions have impacted other key outcomes like health care access and costs. “To improve the design and increase adoption of Medicaid expansions for the reentry population, we must invest in rigorous research to address these gaps.”
Affordable, quality health care. For everyone.
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