Medicaid, a federal-state partnership program, provides health care coverage to more than 50 million people – mainly children, women and the disabled – across the country. Medicaid beneficiaries make up more than one-third of the discharges and more than one-fourth of the outpatient visits at members of America's Essential Hospitals. This is in addition to the more than 30 percent of our ambulatory care patients and nearly 20 percent of our inpatients who are uninsured.

States are currently determining whether or not to expand their Medicaid programs mandated by the Affordable Care Act but made voluntary by the landmark Supreme Court Ruling in 2012. During this pivotal time for Medicaid, America's Essential Hospitals and its members support increased coverage to vulnerable Americans, and the association will continue to advocate on behalf of Medicaid-covered patients and work with federal policy makers to improve the program.

This overview highlights the vital role safety net hospitals and health systems play in their communities and the need to have continued local funding sources for the Medicaid program.

America's Essential Hospitals and its members urge Congress to protect the Medicaid program and oppose any cuts that could impact access to care.

America's Essential Hospitals and its members understand the benefits of the Medicaid expansion, this outline lays out why states that are hesitant to expand should take up the expansion.

America's Essential Hospitals and its members urge Congress to protect America’s safety net and reject cuts to the Medicaid program, including cuts to DSH payments, provider tax reductions, repeal of maintenance-of-effort requirements and across-the-board cuts in FMAP.

America's Essential Hospitals and its members urge Congress to recognize that cutting provider taxes shifts costs onto states, which they cannot afford. Cuts in provider taxes do not increase efficiency or performance - they only succeed in shifting costs and negatively impacting Medicaid beneficiaries.