Medicaid Forward

More than 77 million Americans – roughly one in every five – use Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to get the health care they need. In addition, Medicaid pays providers, hospitals, long term care facilities and other components of our health care infrastructure more than half a billion dollars each year, making it a critical funder of the health care system that serves all Americans. With this broad reach, the program will inherently be central to our recovery as a nation from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout.

Medicaid is well-positioned to make meaningful contributions to our national recovery, particularly in three key areas where pandemic-challenges are greatest: mental health and substance abuse, access to health care for children, and supports for people in need of long-term care.

Through a series of executive working groups titled Medicaid Forward, NAMD and its partners are identifying concrete, actionable ways that state Medicaid administrators can and are creating a healthier, stronger American future.