Medicaid expansion: a state-by-state guide

As part of Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, a majority of states have agreed to expand Medicaid by accepting federal funds. Use this interactive guide to explore how many people will benefit in each state and how much it will cost

Your IP address will be logged

Is your state planning to expand Medicaid?

Some states have already made a decision about the Medicaid expansion, however they can opt in or out at any time before 2014.

Planning to expand

Not planning to expand


Select your state to continue

There are people who meet the income requirements for the Medicaid expansion.

  • Adults whose income falls between 100% and 139% of the poverty line
  • 249,751
  • U.S. average
  • Current uninsured rate
  • vs.
  • Predicted drop in uninsured rate by 2022 with the Medicaid expansion vs. without

How many people could it help?

If Medicaid is expanded, families and individuals making up to 138% of the FPL ($25,390 for a family of three) could qualify, as long as they satisfy residency, immigration and citizenship requirements. This could bring the uninsured rate in each state down significantly, especially in a state such as Texas, where almost one in four are uninsured.

States with the most people meeting income requirements

States with the fewest people meeting income requirements

0 - 81k

81k - 243k

243k - 729k

729k - 2,189k

Medicaid expansion would cost .

  • Projected cost if state expands Medicaid, 2013-2022
  • $54.0bn
  • U.S. average
  • Projected cost if state does not expand Medicaid, 2013-2022
  • $53.9bn
  • U.S. average
  • Cost (or savings) of expanding Medicaid

How much would it cost?

It's no surprise that the cost of Medicaid expansion will be highest in heavily populated states like New York and California, where there are simply more people who would qualify for the program. But each state will be paying for healthcare regardless of whether or not it decides to expand Medicaid. For about half of the states, expanding Medicaid will cost only about 5% more than what it would pay for healthcare otherwise. And eight states states, including Iowa, Massachusetts and Maryland, will actually see savings from expanding Medicaid.

States with the highest cost

States with the lowest cost

5k - 25k

25k - 125k

125k - 625k

has a debt-to-GDP ratio of .

  • Debt-to-GDP ratio
  • 2.93%
  • U.S. average
  • 2011 debt
  • 2011 GDP

How indebted is your state?

Because of generous federal funding, if a state chooses to expand Medicaid, it will be responsible for a fraction of the costs. The federal government has pledged to pay for 100% of expansion costs for the first three years, then will slowly decrease its funding to 90% of costs by 2020. That may be cold comfort for states already struggling to balance budgets. One way to assess a state's finances is looking at its debt-to-GDP ratio, which compares how much the state owes against how much money it generates.

States with highest debt-to-GDP ratio

States with lowest debt-to-GDP ratio

0 - 1.9%

1.9 - 3.7%

3.7 - 5.0%

5.0 - 10.4%

Data and information provided by the Advisory Board, State Budget Solutions and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.