10 Things to Know about Medicaid: Setting the Facts Straight

The Kaiser Family Foundation published a fact sheet indicating that Medicaid spending is concentrated on the elderly and individuals with special needs. “Seniors and people with disabilities make up 1 in 4 beneficiaries but account for almost two-thirds of Medicaid spending, reflecting high per enrollee costs for both acute and long-term care.” “Medicaid is low-cost compared to private insurance, largely due to lower Medicaid payment rates for providers. Analysis shows that if adult Medicaid enrollees had job-based coverage instead, their average health care costs would be more than 25% higher. Medicaid spending per enrollee has also been growing more slowly than private insurance premiums and other health spending benchmarks.”