Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography

Created in 1965, Medicaid provides comprehensive health insurance for tens of millions of Americans who have low incomes or qualifying disabilities. As the overall cost of healthcare has skyrocketed in the United States, federal spending on Medicaid has risen as well, leading President Trump and Congressional Republicans to target the program as a place for significant cuts.

One major avenue for cutting the program is eliminating or sharply reducing the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid – while operated by the states – is financed by both the federal government and each respective state. The ACA’s expansion sharply increased federal funding if states accepted the additional support so that adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL) would qualify for Medicaid coverage (in 2025, this translates to $21,597for a single person or $44,367 for a family of four). Currently, 40 states plus Washington, D.C. have accepted the expansion while 10 states have not.

Proponents of cutting Medicaid also often support imposing work requirements, with the underlying assumption that people relying on the program need to be pushed to enter the job market. However, this framing is wholly untrue; the vast majority of Medicaid beneficiaries hold jobs or are engaged in caregiving and school. Cutting Medicaid will simply deny health care to millions of hardworking Americans.

What follows is a collection of key data points, demonstrating the realities of the Medicaid program and who cuts would most harm.

Who is Covered

72.3 million

As of October 2024, 72.3 million Americans are enrolled in Medicaid. This number rises to 79.3 million when including the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which similarly provides health insurance to low-income children. Overall, 40.6 million adults and 36.8 million children receive health care coverage through Medicaid/CHIP.

30%

As Medicaid depends on family income, millions of Americans fluctuate in and out of the program. In 2023, around 30% or 100.1 million Americans were enrolled in Medicaid at some point.

>25%

Some states rely on Medicaid more than others. In 2022, seven states had over a quarter of their population enrolled in the program: New Mexico (33.5%), Louisiana (32.4%), New York (28.5%), Kentucky (28.3%), West Virginia (28.2%), Arkansas (27.4%), and California (26.8%).

39.5%

A plurality (

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