At Kaiser Permanente, we provide coordinated care to 1.5 million people, including over half a million children, insured through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

These programs help people with lower incomes and disabilities access essential care, supporting our mission of providing high-quality, care that improves the health of communities.

Our whole-person approach, which considers physical, behavioral, and social needs, helps us proactively address emerging health concerns and deliver measurably better outcomes for our Medicaid members, who may have multiple complex health conditions. Members are often enrolled in Medicaid-specific care coordination programs that support distinct needs, such as making diet and lifestyle changes to reduce blood pressure, or specific populations, like children with special health care needs. Medicaid allows us to provide high-value, evidence-based care and comprehensive care management that might not otherwise be available to these patients.

Our population-health approach to care management and robust electronic health records help us see the difference that Medicaid coverage makes. The larger body of evidence reflects our experiences: across the U.S., studies show that Medicaid supports healthier people, healthier communities, and economic opportunities – especially in rural and undeserved areas.

Healthier People

Medicaid supports our work to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. High rates of chronic diseases, like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, are urgent health concerns estimated to cost the U.S. over $900 billion annually in direct medical expenses alone. ^1,2,3,4 Medicaid facilitates better treatment and management of chronic diseases by emphasizing prevention, early detection, proven treatments, and coordinated care. 

Increasing Cancer Screening & Early Detection

• Medicaid coverage helps people access cancer screenings and preventive care, supporting early detection and timely interventions. Without regular screenings, cancer often progresses undetected until it becomes more difficult and costly to treat.⁵
  
• Late-stage cancer diagnoses lead to more invasive treatments, worse health outcomes, and greater financial strain for both patients and the health care system.⁶ For example, the first year of treatment for breast cancer diagnosed at Stage 0 costs an average of $60,637, while the first year of treatment for Stage 4 breast cancer is $134,682.⁷
  
• People without insurance are much less likely to be screened. In a 2021 national study, just 43% of uninsured people were up to date on screenings for breast cancer, 57% for cervical cancer, and 30% for colorectal cancer.
  
• At Kaiser Permanente, 78% of our Medicaid members were up to date on breast cancer screening and 76% were up to date on cervical and colorectal cancer screenings in 2022.

Diagnosing and Treating Diabetes

• People with prediabetes or diabetes are more likely to be diagnosed and have better blood sugar control if they are covered by Medicaid than if they do not have insurance. ^{9, 10}  Untreated diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, blindness, amputation, kidney failure, and early mortality.
• At Kaiser Permanente, we screen patients for diabetes and offer enhanced diabetes care through Medicaid. As a result, 67% of our Medicaid members with diabetes kept their blood sugar within healthy ranges and 83% had controlled blood pressure in 2023. A national study found that from 2017 to March 2020, only 54% of uninsured people with diabetes had blood sugar in healthy ranges and 75% had controlled blood pressure.¹¹

Controlling High Blood Pressure & Reducing Heart Disease Risk

• People who have high blood pressure are nearly twice as likely to have their blood pressure under control if they are insured by Medicaid compared to people without insurance.¹² Controlling high blood pressure can lower risk for heart disease and stroke.
  
• A national study found that just 22% of people without insurance had their blood pressure under control.¹³

Lowering Mortality Rates

• Medicaid expansion has lowered mortality rates, especially for patients with chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and lung and breast cancer.
  
• Medicaid expansion reduced the rate of all-cause mortality by 3.6% for adults ages 20-64 and by 9.4% for adults ages 55-64.^{14, 15}

Healthier Communities

Medicaid also supports the health of communities, maintaining access to health care and qualified health care providers for local residents, regardless of their type of health coverage.

• Expanding Medicaid is linked to increased hospital stability, especially among rural hospitals and in areas that had more uninsured individuals before Medicaid expansion. ^{16, 17, 18} This is critical given that nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed in the last 20 years and one-third of the remaining rural hospitals are at risk of closing. ¹⁹ Hospitals are often the largest or second-largest employer in a community, so closures mean loss of jobs and loss of access to care for everyone in that service area. ²⁰
• Medicaid helps to grow and stabilize the health care workforce, which is especially critical for rural communities. ^{21, 22, 23, 24} As of March 2025, 77 million people live in Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas and 80% of those areas are located in rural communities.²⁵ Medicaid helps hospitals in underserved areas recruit and retain more qualified health professionals by providing adequate rates and supporting medical education and training opportunities. ^{26, 27}
  
• Medicaid expands local access to care. This is especially critical for rural areas, which have a higher proportion of Medicaid members (especially among children) and often face higher rates of chronic disease and poverty compared to urban areas. This makes having consistent access to care even more essential, but rural residents often encounter barriers like inadequate transportation and limited or costly broadband access. ²⁹ More than 50,000 of Kaiser Permanente’s Medicaid members live in rural communities and benefit from Medicaid-specific programs that help us coordinate care for rural patients and connect them to free or low-cost transportation for medical appointments.³⁰

Healthier Local Economies

Medicaid helps to strengthen local economies and increase economic opportunity for Medicaid members and their families, which in turn lead to longer, healthier, and more productive lives.

• People without insurance are more likely to rely on the emergency room for care, impeding care management, reducing opportunities for preventive services, and making care less efficient and more costly. ^{31, 32} These added costs can also increase the amount of uncompensated care hospitals provide, potentially impacting hospital financial stability and increasing costs for other patients and the U.S. health care system.^{33, 34}
  
• Medicaid helps people work by providing access to affordable health services and medications. This enables them to address chronic conditions and behavioral health issues that hinder job stability. Many Medicaid expansion enrollees work in physically demanding industries, like construction and food service, where poor health can lead to job loss or difficulty finding employment. ^{35, 36} Workers earning lower wages are also less likely to have access to employer-sponsored health plans. ³⁷
  
• Medicaid coverage, particularly during childhood, is associated with higher educational attainment and earning potential later in life, which increase economic mobility.³⁸ Expanding Medicaid improves academic performance and increases high school and college completion rates for low-income youth, which improves their career options. ^{39, 40, 41, 42} A national study found that people who were eligible for Medicaid as children contributed more in taxes by the time they are 28 – approximately 14 more cents for every dollar spent on their health coverage – and were less likely to use the Earned Income Tax Credit.⁴³

Policy Opportunities

As Congress considers policy changes, new proposals should preserve care and coverage and the financial integrity of our health care system.

• Continue coverage for low-income adults receiving care and coverage from Medicaid expansion
• Apply a whole-person care approach: Policy leaders can bolster beneficiaries’ physical, mental, and social health by supporting Medicaid alongside other programs that help meet their social needs like housing, food security, education, and employment training.
  
• Maintain appropriate payment models: Medicaid payment methodologies should account for the full range of health plan and provider models, including Kaiser Permanente’s integrated care model.
  
• Support competition among different care and coverage models: Value-based care plays a critical role in ensuring access to care and in improving care quality in a manner that is financially sustainable for Medicaid. With competition among different care and coverage models on the basis of value, Medicaid and the people it serves will experience higher-quality and more affordable care.
  
• Facilitate connections to social services and minimize barriers to employment: If work requirements are imposed, policymakers should encourage support for social services and supports that minimize barriers to employment for low-income populations, including access to job training and employment programs, childcare, transportation, mental health and wellness services, and substance use disorder treatment.