Medicaid is the nation's largest health insurance program providing medical and health-related services to low-income people.
Medicaid coverage leads to better health outcomes for participants—saving lives, lowering health care costs, making childbirth safer, reducing medical debt, and helping strengthen state economies.
A lifeline for people at every stage of life, Medicaid provides affordable health coverage for more than 79 million people with low incomes or disabilities throughout the United States. For 60 years, Medicaid has been an important part of America’s social safety net, a partnership funded by the federal government and states. For those who qualify, it covers a range of care including childbirth, routine medical services, support for those with disabilities, and nursing home care for older adults.
Medicaid strengthens communities for everyone, even those not covered by the program. It is a bedrock of state and local economies, supporting healthcare jobs and providing vital funding to hospitals, particularly in rural areas.
Medicaid coverage leads to better health outcomes for participants—saving lives, lowering health care costs, making childbirth safer, reducing medical debt, and helping strengthen state economies.
A lifeline for people at every stage of life, Medicaid provides affordable health coverage for more than 79 million people with low incomes or disabilities throughout the United States. For 60 years, Medicaid has been an important part of America’s social safety net, a partnership funded by the federal government and states. For those who qualify, it covers a range of care including childbirth, routine medical services, support for those with disabilities, and nursing home care for older adults.
Medicaid strengthens communities for everyone, even those not covered by the program. It is a bedrock of state and local economies, supporting healthcare jobs and providing vital funding to hospitals, particularly in rural areas.
It's not hard to imagine what will happen if the federal government moves forward with a plan to cut about $1.5 trillion over the next decade from programs that health insurance and food supports to Americans who need it the most.
"The impact on people in every state will be immediate and severe. In a cruel twist, those “savings” would be used to fund a tax cut for Americans who have the most. This is the scenario the nation faces today." —RWJF President and CEO Richard Besser
Americans want Congress to focus on solutions, but instead the reconciliation bill is being used to make life even harder for all but the wealthiest Americans. This bill will terminate health coverage for an estimated 15 million people and does nothing to tackle the corporate greed that is driving up our costs.
—Avenel Joseph, PhD, RWJF vice president, Policy
While eliminating Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage would reduce federal spending, it would leave states on the hook to either generate billions in new revenue or remove millions of people from Medicaid.
Closing the Medicaid coverage gap is the single biggest action the country can take to reduce the number of uninsured.
The refusal of some states to expand their Medicaid programs means that political considerations are being prioritized over healthcare, even in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic where health insurance can be the difference between life and death.
Story Spotlight
That's Medicaid shares stories of people helped by Medicaid at critical points in their lives.
Updated July 2026
Expanding who qualifies for Medicaid has driven increases in health coverage in America for more than a decade, but this progress is in jeopardy.
“Restricting access to this lifesaving program through work requirements or drastic funding cuts puts the health of millions at risk. Expanding and strengthening Medicaid—not weakening it—will bring America closer to the day when health is no longer a privilege for some, but a right for all.”
—Katherine Hempstead, senior policy adviser
