Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Health

Medicaid Per Capita Cap Would Shift Costs to States and Undermine Key Part of Health Reform

A proposal by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton and Senator Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, to place a “per capita cap” on federal Medicaid funding would shift large costs to states. As a result, it would undermine health reform’s Medicaid expansion and lead to deep cuts in the rest of Medicaid, likely leaving millions more low-income people uninsured and without access to needed care.

Topics

Basics

Medicaid is a federal-state public insurance program that provides health coverage to nearly 65 million low-income Americans, including children, parents, seniors, and people with disabilities. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) gives states matching federal funds to provide health coverage to nearly 8 million children in families whose income is modestly above Medicaid limits, typically up to 200 percent of the poverty line. Medicare is a federal program that provides health coverage to about 47 million Americans, primarily individuals age 65 and older but also including several million younger adults with permanent disabilities. The Affordable Care Act, the health reform law passed in 2010, will help an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans obtain quality, affordable health coverage in both the private and public markets.

Policy Basics:
- Introduction to Medicaid

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The Center works to ensure that federal and state health insurance programs provide coverage that meets the health care needs of low-income children and families, as well as seniors and people with disabilities. The Center also works to remove barriers preventing eligible families from gaining access to health coverage.