What is “Per Capita Cap” Financing in Medicaid and How Would It Work?

The House GOP health care plan released this week proposes a broad range of changes to Medicaid, including a “per capita cap” approach to program financing or a block grant, based on state choice. A new issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation provides an overview of how a per capita cap financing structure could work, including implications for the federal government, state governments, beneficiaries and health care providers.

In addition to explaining how a per capita cap approach differs from current law, the Foundation’s new brief examines Medicaid per capita cap provisions included in two other Republican proposals -- the House Budget Resolution, and the Health Accessibility, Empowerment and Liberty Act of 2016 (the HAELA bill).

Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Menlo Park, California.