ABSTRACT
THIS CHAPTER PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF MEDICAID, THE CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN (CHIP), and the impact of the Supreme Court’s June 2012 decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (2010) and Medicaid. While the ACA included mandatory reforms to expand Medicaid programs across all states, the court’s decision gave each state the right to choose whether or not to participate in these reforms. Clearly, this is a major and unexpected outcome of the legal challenges to the ACA brought by conservatives and many states in the country. Medicaid, as mentioned in Chapter 6, is one of the largest and most important health insurance programs in the United States; it provides coverage for individuals with disabilities and low income, and is the primary payer for long-term care.
