Medicaid spending expenditure by eligibility group FY2021

In FY 2021, Medicaid expenditure on disabled persons was estimated to have totaled 220 billion U.S. dollars, which was more than any other enrollment group. Disabled individuals also had the highest per enrollee Medicaid costs during the year.

The high costs of health care

Federal and state governments together spent an estimated 640 billion U.S. dollars on the Medicaid health insurance program in 2019. Despite having the smallest shares of Medicaid enrollees, the elderly and disabled groups combined to account for more than half of all Medicaid expenditure in 2019. These two groups have a significantly higher per enrollee expenditure because they have greater long-term needs – Medicaid expenditure on acute care and long-term care benefits combined for approximately 260 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.

Which eligibility group has the most enrollees?

Elderly individuals can qualify for Medicaid through several pathways, but an income-based methodology is primarily used to determine eligibility for most adults, pregnant women, and children. Children accounted for 37.5 percent of Medicaid enrollees in 2019, which was the largest share of all enrollment groups. Around 28 million children are enrolled in Medicaid programs across the United States, and the number of enrollees is projected to top 30 million in the coming years.