Washington’s Medicaid program is called Apple Health — and it’s one of the most expansive in the country by both coverage breadth and income thresholds. Two features set Washington apart from virtually every other state in this series: Immigrant coverage — As of July 2024, Washington extended Apple Health to undocumented adults with incomes up …
Virginia’s Medicaid program goes by two names depending on the context. The state brands its Medicaid managed care system as Cardinal Care — the umbrella program through which most Virginia Medicaid recipients receive coverage. The federal enrollment program is called Cover Virginia — the state’s Medicaid outreach and enrollment brand administered by DMAS. What sets …
Wyoming Medicaid, administered by the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH), is a health Wyoming Medicaid is officially branded as EqualityCare — named in keeping with Wyoming’s identity as the “Equality State” — and is administered by the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH). It provides health coverage to low-income Wyoming residents including children, pregnant women, parents, seniors, and people …
Vermont’s Medicaid program is called Green Mountain Care — and Vermont is among the most health-insured states in the country, with one of the lowest uninsured rates in the United States even before the ACA. That’s not an accident. Vermont had already built near-universal coverage for low-income residents through earlier state programs like VHAP and …
Utah’s Medicaid expansion has one of the most unusual political histories of any state in the country. Utah voters approved full ACA expansion to 138% FPL via a 2018 ballot initiative, with 53%+ support. Then the state legislature passed a scaled-back version — capping coverage at 100% FPL through a Section 1115 waiver. Then the …
Texas Medicaid serves over 5 million Texans — more than any non-expansion state in the country — through one of the most elaborate managed care architectures in the United States. Almost every Texas Medicaid recipient gets coverage through a named managed care program — STAR, STAR+PLUS, or STAR Kids — each targeting a different population …
Tennessee’s Medicaid program is called TennCare — and it’s one of the most structured managed care Medicaid systems in the country, operating entirely through three contracted managed care organizations: UnitedHealthcare, BlueCare (BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee), and Wellpoint. Every TennCare enrollee receives care through one of these MCOs, which coordinate medical, behavioral health, and pharmacy benefits …
Oregon Medicaid — the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) — covers over 1.4 million Oregonians and offers something no other state program does quite the same way: the OHP Bridge Plan, a Basic Health Program that extends coverage to adults earning between 138% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Level — a gap most states leave …
South Dakota expanded Medicaid — but not through the legislature. In November 2022, South Dakota voters approved Constitutional Amendment D by a 56–44 margin, expanding Medicaid to adults aged 19–64 earning up to 138% FPL. Coverage began July 1, 2023, making South Dakota the seventh state to expand Medicaid via ballot initiative — joining Maine, …
South Carolina’s Medicaid program is called Healthy Connections — and it operates under one of the most significant coverage restrictions of any state in the Southeast. South Carolina has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. That means an estimated 200,000+ low-income South Carolinians who would qualify for Medicaid in 39 other states and …