72 million moms, seniors, kids, people with disabilities, and working people who don’t receive health insurance through their employer. Medicaid has made people healthier, kept rural hospitals open, and saved lives.
What's the difference between Medicaid and Medi-Cal?
Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal government and each state, so each state runs its own program. So, Georgia has PeachState, Tennessee has TennCare, and California has Medi-Cal. 14.9 million people—38% of all Californians—are enrolled in Medi-Cal. This includes 530,000 people in CA-22, 175,000 in CA-40, and 284,000 in CA-41
What Does Medicaid Cover?
Coverage for Seniors
Over 8 million seniors across America rely on Medicaid for affordable and essential health care. 1 in 5 federal Medicaid dollars is spent supporting seniors. Medicaid helps seniors afford their Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Since Medicare does not cover long-term care services, Medicaid is the nation’s single largest payer for long-term care. Medicaid helps seniors age with dignity and independence and lightens the load of working families struggling to get by.
Coverage for Children
Medicaid is a lifeline for nearly half of all America’s children. Approximately 31.5 million children in the United States are enrolled in Medicaid. Children have the highest poverty rate of any age group. A 2020 study found that children who received health insurance through Medicaid were less likely to die young, more likely to be employed in their adult life, and less likely to develop a disability as adults. Without Medicaid, millions of children would be more likely to suffer from bad health, get trapped in a cycle of poverty, and be denied the American dream.
Mental Health Care
Medicaid is the single largest payer for mental health services in America, serving 26% of all adults living with a serious mental health condition. Expanding Medicaid services, such as behavioral health benefits, has led to improved access and better outcomes for working-class individuals. Simply having access to Medicaid has shown in some studies to reduce depression rates by over 3% among those with chronic health conditions. Medicaid covers 45% of non-elderly adults with disabilities, including adults with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, and brain injuries. Nationally, around 12% of Medicaid enrollees over 18 have some kind of substance use disorder, and Medicaid is crucial to building a system of comprehensive substance use disorder treatment.
Maternal Health Care
Medicaid covers 41% of births in the United States. Thanks to Medicaid, hundreds of thousands of pregnant women across the country receive prenatal visits, ultrasounds, and screenings for conditions such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and postpartum depression. States that expanded Medicaid had an average of a 17% decrease in postpartum hospitalizations and experienced lower maternal mortality rates than states that did not expand Medicaid.
Rural Hospitals
About 1 in 5 – 66.3 million – Americans reside in rural areas across the United States, and around 1 in 5 of those Americans – over 12 million – are enrolled in Medicaid. Medicaid is a vital source of coverage for people across rural America, who are more likely to lack insurance, experience negative health outcomes, and have more barriers to accessing care. Around 47% of children and 18% of adults in rural America have health coverage through Medicaid. Medicaid has built a foundation for rural resilience and remains vital for the growth and prosperity of rural families and their communities.