Whereas the election's implications for the way forward for abortion entry have obtained in depth consideration, the stakes are additionally excessive for the longer term instructions of Medicaid, a program with which seven in 10 girls have a connection. Vice President Harris and former President Trump have starkly totally different views on abortion and Medicaid, vital points that impression girls's well being, particularly for girls of their reproductive years and with decrease incomes. With regard to Medicaid, the Biden-Harris administration's coverage proposals have typically centered on efforts to “shield and strengthen Medicaid and the Inexpensive Care Act (ACA),” in addition to repealing the Hyde Modification, which limits federal spending on abortion; In distinction, former President Trump supported plans to repeal or weaken the ACA, limit and scale back Medicaid funding, and restrict entry to Medicaid whereas he was president. In a current column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman identified that this system most definitely to be in focus if Republicans take management in November is Medicaid.

Adjustments associated to Medicaid may have main implications for the well being care of low-income girls, in addition to for girls's being pregnant, postpartum, and different reproductive well being care. Listed below are the 5 most vital issues to learn about girls and Medicaid forward of the election.

1. Medicaid is a vital supply of protection for low-income girls (and their kids). Medicaid supplies protection to at least one in 5 non-elderly grownup girls, the biggest supply of protection after employer protection (Exhibit 1). Medicaid covers 43 p.c of nonelderly low-income girls (revenue lower than 200% FPL) and greater than half (52%) of poor girls (revenue lower than 100% FPL). Medicaid additionally covers 4 in 10 kids and eight in 10 poor kids.
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2. Medicaid supplies protection to girls all through their lives, together with older girls and people with continual disabilities. Medicaid supplies protection to low-income girls who qualify as a result of they meet one of many eligibility classes (pregnant, older, disabled, or 65+), or have an revenue beneath 138% of poverty by means of the ACA growth pathway. Practically two-thirds (64%) of grownup girls coated by Medicaid are of childbearing age. Medicaid additionally covers greater than four-in-ten (44%) non-elderly girls with a variety of bodily and psychological disabilities, together with bodily limitations and critical psychological sickness. Medicaid funds greater than half (54%) of all long-term care expenditures, which is essential for a lot of susceptible older girls and girls who qualify based mostly on their disabilities. In 2021, 20% of ladies with Medicare have been additionally enrolled in Medicaid. For these girls, Medicaid helps pay for Medicare premiums, deductibles, and price sharing, in addition to paying for companies not sometimes coated by Medicare, similar to long-term care.
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3. Medicaid is a vital supply of protection for pregnant and postpartum girls and births, in addition to entry to household planning and preventive companies. Medicaid covers greater than 4 in 10 births nationally and nearly all of births in lots of states. Medicaid has additionally been used as a lever to deal with disparities in maternal and baby well being care entry and outcomes. KFF analysis has discovered that the ACA's Medicaid growth promotes continuity of protection in each the prenatal and postpartum intervals. Moreover, resulting from a provision within the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, nearly all states now permit pregnancy-related protection to proceed for as much as a yr after supply. Greater than half of states have established applications that use Medicaid funds to cowl the price of household planning companies for low-income girls who stay uninsured, and Medicaid is answerable for 75% of all publicly funded household planning. Most states have limited-scope Medicaid applications to pay for breast and cervical most cancers remedy for sure low-income, uninsured girls.
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4. Medicaid supplies very restricted entry to abortion companies. The federal Hyde Modification prohibits federal spending on abortions, besides when the being pregnant is the results of rape or incest, or when the lifetime of the pregnant particular person is endangered. Nevertheless, states can use their very own unmatched funds to pay for abortions for Medicaid enrollees below different circumstances, and 19 states at the moment achieve this.
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5. Medicaid has broad help and nearly all of enrollees choose to maintain it as it’s now. Public opinion on Medicaid can also be largely constructive. KFF polling reveals that Medicaid has broad help throughout all political events, with majorities of Democrats, independents and Republicans expressing a constructive view of this system. Moreover, nearly all of the general public and Medicaid enrollees choose to maintain Medicaid as it’s now, with the federal authorities guaranteeing protection for low-income individuals, setting requirements for who is roofed by the states and what advantages individuals, and aligns state Medicaid spending. the variety of individuals on this system goes up or down. Seven in ten girls have a private connection to Medicaid (together with medical insurance, pregnancy-related care, house or nursing house care, protection for a kid, or to assist pay Medicare premiums for themselves, a member of the family, or shut good friend). Eight in ten grownup girls (79%) have a constructive opinion of this system (Determine 5).
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