- The elderly and disabled comprise one-quarter of the Medicaid population (25% of 62.7M total enrollees), but account for about 2/3rds of spending (65% of $346.5B).
- Although Medicaid pays less than 1/3rd the cost of nursing home care—30.9% of the dollars in 2011—it covers 2/3rds of all residents. Because people in nursing homes on Medicaid tend to be long-stayers, Medicaid pays something toward nearly 80% of all patient days.
- The 5% of Medicaid beneficiaries with the highest costs account for over half of all spending.