Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for low-income people, is already a critical source of coverage for women. Nearly 17 million nonelderly women (ages 18-64) are covered through Medicaid, comprising three-quarters of the program’s adult beneficiaries. The health reform law signed by President Obama in March has many implications for this important health insurance program. Women already enrolled in Medicaid will benefit from various provisions that strengthen and improve the program, and due to an unprecedented expansion under health reform, millions of women who are currently uninsured will become newly eligible for Medicaid.
