Medicaid and CHIP enrollee numbers May 2021, by state

California has more Medicaid and CHIP enrollees than any other state in the United States. As of May 2021, approximately 12.8 million Americans were enrolled in the health insurance programs in California, which accounted for around 15.5 percent of the total number of enrollees nationwide (82.8 million).

Blow to Medicaid expansion plans

California is one of many states that has expanded its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to encourage more low-income adults to sign up for health coverage. One of the original aims of the ACA was to limit some of the variations in state Medicaid programs, but the Supreme Court ruled that the expansion should be optional. Governors of the states that did not expand said they were concerned about long-term costs. California is the leading state for Medicaid expenditure, spending approximately 97.8 billion U.S. dollars in FY2020.

Health coverage for children

The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was created as a complement to Medicaid, expanding the reach of government-funded health coverage to more children in low-income families. As of May 2021, over five million children were enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP programs in California, more than any other state. As of January 2021, the median Medicaid/CHIP eligibility level for children was 255 percent of the federal poverty level.