During the 2019 policy year, over 72.9 million Americans enrolled in their state Medicaid programs. This was down 1.1 million (2%) from 2018, which had 74 million individuals apply for the federal and state health insurance program. Medicaid is designed to be a low-cost insurance plan for low-income individuals who cannot afford individual health insurance or who do not receive health insurance through an employer.
Medicaid enrollment changes
Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Medicaid expansion
Medicaid enrollment changes
Enrollment for Medicaid occurs every year during the open enrollment period. This is when you can visit the healthcare.gov website to apply and find out if you are eligible for the health insurance program. If you are already enrolled in Medicaid, you still need to reapply during the open enrollment period.
Medicaid covers people with low-incomes, disabilities or drug addictions. The federally funded program provided opioid addiction help to 4 in 10 nonelderly adults. This allowed individuals to get increased access to treatment centers and intervention courses.
Virginia saw the largest jump in Medicaid enrollment with a year-over-year increase of over 25%. The main driving factor in this increase is that Virginia expanded Medicaid enrollment beginning January 1, 2019. This allowed many individuals who had previously been in the coverage gap to get