CSHP Medicaid-Related Portfolio

Overview

No program has shaped CSHP’s analytic priorities more than Medicaid. This program has been a lifeline for many individuals with low-incomes and disabilities, improving access and a range of health outcomes, including among infants and children. Created in 1965, Medicaid provides state matching grants to subsidize health insurance coverage for low-income individuals. Along with Medicare and employer-sponsored coverage, Medicaid is one of three major pillars in the American health insurance system. 

Medicaid programs vary, each state having considerable discretion when it comes to who is covered, what services are offered to enrollees, and how services are delivered. The saying goes that, when you see one state Medicaid program, you see one state Medicaid program. New Jersey has an expansive Medicaid program, called NJ FamilyCare, with nearly 1.8 million state residents enrolled as of October 2026, or nearly one in five residents. Enrollment has grown over the years, peaking at more than 2 million residents during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

From its inception, CSHP has focused on Medicaid policy, and its partnership with the state became particularly robust starting in 2011, when New Jersey policymakers established the Medicaid Accountable Care Organization (ACO) demonstration project and assigned CSHP a key analytic role. 

During this period, state Medicaid officials also contracted with CSHP to evaluate its Medicaid comprehensive §1115 demonstration program which launched a major transformation of long-term services and supports (LTSS) provided to enrollees who are aging or have disabilities. Most recently, CSHP has collaborated with the state to examine Medicaid challenges in serving people experiencing homelessness and exploring new approaches to delivering services and supports to adults and children living with autism and other intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD) within their communities.

Click on the tabs at the top to learn more about each of the components of the Center's Medicaid portfolio.