In the 50 years since Medicaid was enacted as Title XIX of the Social Security Act, Congress has made significant changes to statutory provisions governing eligibility, covered services, and financing. Federal regulations have been added, rescinded, and modified to interpret and implement the statute. As a result, the statute and regulations are dense and not always easy to navigate.
This reference guide is intended to help users locate specific provisions in statute and regulation, as well as in state plans. Please note that the terms or topics do not always align across these sources. This may be because a particular statutory provision does not have corresponding regulations or because a regulation addresses a detail not specified in statute.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also provides administrative guidance to states through the State Medicaid Manual, State Medicaid Director and State Health Official letters, and other materials posted at www.medicaid.gov.
Updated April 2022