Understanding Enrollment Trends and Participant Characteristics of the Medicaid Buy-In Program, 2003-2004

Although advances in medicine and technology, in addition to changes in social attitudes, have improved employment opportunities for people with disabilities, their employment rate has fallen since the early 1990s. Inadequate access to private health insurance, which can be expensive and may not cover needed services, is a critical barrier to employment. This report describes enrollment and participation in the Medicaid Buy-In program, part of the federal effort to make it easier for people with disabilities to work without losing health benefits. The report notes that enrollment in the Buy-In program continued growing steadily in 2003 and 2004 and that most program participants had experience with other disability-related public programs when they enrolled in the Buy-In program.