The program, jointly supported by the states and the federal government, is largely limited to low-income children, pregnant women and disabled people. But under bills in both housesof Congress, eligibility would be granted to anyone with an income of up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (currently $29,326 for a family of four). That could add an estimated 11 million people to the rolls.
The annual survey of state Medicaid directors, conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, found that the growth in Medicaid spending in 2009, at 7.9 percent, was the highest in five years.
