The Medicaid BuyIn Program Quantitative Measures of Enrollment Trends and Participant Characteristics in 2002

The national Medicaid Buy-In program promotes employment and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities by allowing states to amend their Medicaid programs. As of December 2002, 25 states had implemented this program. Three themes emerge in this early picture of 21 states: (1) enrollment has increased substantially since 1999, (2) the majority of enrollees were already connected with public health insurance and disability-related programs, and (3) few participants had reported earnings over $800 per month, the level used to define substantial gainful employment. The report also identifies several important policy questions to be addressed.