2020’s States with the Most and Least Medicaid Coverage

From Wallet Hub,  Mar 23, 2020

As of November 2019, over 64 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid. The Trump administration announced an overhaul to the system at the end of January. This change would allow states to cap the amount of Medicaid funds they receive from the Federal Government. Proponents of this change say it will eliminate waste and save money while opponents say it will limit access for people who need it.

Medicaid is also an important issue in the upcoming 2020 election. Democratic hopefuls not only differ from President Trump but also from each other on the matter. For example, Joe Biden’s plan says that he supports the expansion of Medicaid and the ACA as a whole. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, supports “Medicare for all,” which could complicate the status of Medicaid. But Medicaid isn’t just in the news due to the upcoming election – as the threat of coronavirus looms, Vice President Pence has confirmed that Medicaid will cover tests for the disease.

Regardless of partisan ideas about how expansive Medicaid should be as a whole, it’s a fact that some states rely on Medicaid coverage more than others do. To find out the states where Medicaid is most prevalent, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 12 key metrics in three overall categories. Their data set ranges from total Medicaid spending per low-income population to adult care quality and children Medicaid eligibility level.

read … Full Report

HAWAII

• 31 -- Overall Rank
• 48.75 -- Total Score
• 17 -- ‘Spending’ Rank
• 46 -- ‘Quality’ Rank
• 22 -- ‘Eligibility & Enrollment’ Rank
• 50 – Medicaid Spending as Percentage of State Budget