Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Health

Ryan Medicaid Block Grant Would Add Millions to the Ranks of Uninsured and Underinsured

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s new budget again proposes to radically restructure Medicaid by converting it into a block grant and slash federal Medicaid funding by $810 billion over the next decade. He would also repeal health reform’s Medicaid expansion. All told, it would add tens of millions of Americans to the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured.

Medicare in the Ryan Budget

Ryan proposes to replace Medicare’s current guarantee of health coverage with a premium-support voucher and raise the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67. Together, these changes would shift substantial costs to Medicare beneficiaries and (with the simultaneous repeal of health reform) leave many 65- and 66-year olds without any health coverage at all.

Ryan Roundup: Everything You Need to Know About Chairman Ryan's Budget

This is a compilation of the CBPP analyses and blog posts on the budget that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan proposed, and the House of Representatives passed, in March. These analyses focus on ways in which the Ryan budget would impact the safety net, taxes, health care, and the economy. Read more

Topics

Basics

Medicaid is a federal-state public insurance program that provides health coverage to nearly 65 million low-income Americans, including children, parents, seniors, and people with disabilities. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) gives states matching federal funds to provide health coverage to nearly 8 million children in families whose income is modestly above Medicaid limits, typically up to 200 percent of the poverty line. Medicare is a federal program that provides health coverage to about 47 million Americans, primarily individuals age 65 and older but also including several million younger adults with permanent disabilities. The Affordable Care Act, the health reform law passed in 2010, will help an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans obtain quality, affordable health coverage in both the private and public markets.

Policy Basics:
- Introduction to Medicaid

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The Center works to ensure that federal and state health insurance programs provide coverage that meets the health care needs of low-income children and families, as well as seniors and people with disabilities. The Center also works to remove barriers preventing eligible families from gaining access to health coverage.