California Medicaid Program Overview
Enrollment, funding, and managed care facts for California Medicaid.
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California Medicaid covered approximately 11.76-14.90M people. Two independent sources give different-period figures for total California Medicaid/CHIP (Medi-Cal) enrollment: KFF's state indicator (11,762,641, May 2026) and CMS's 2024 Medicaid Managed Care Enrollment and Program Characteristics report (14,904,950 total Medicaid enrollees, July 1, 2024). The gap is larger than a same-period rounding difference would explain; consistent with California's large post-pandemic 'unwinding' enrollment decline between mid-2024 and mid-2026, not a data error. Reported as a range rather than a single false-precision number.
Funding & federal match
California has adopted ACA Medicaid expansion, effective 2014-01-01.
For FFY2026 (Oct 1, 2025 - Sep 30, 2026), California's Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) is 50%.
Delivery system & managed care
A large share of California Medicaid is delivered through managed care organizations (MCOs) rather than fee-for-service — estimates range from 84.4-96.1% of Medicaid enrollees.
Waivers
California operates Medicaid managed care under the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM), a Section 1115 demonstration waiver. Combined Section 1115 demonstration and Section 1915(b) managed care waiver renaming/restructuring California's prior 'Medi-Cal 2020' waiver. Approved December 29, 2021 for a five-year period through December 31, 2026. Funds enhanced care management, community supports (HCBS-like in-lieu-of services), justice-involved reentry initiatives, and health-related social needs (HRSN) services; a December 2024 amendment added CAA-2023 reentry authority and Title XXI HRSN expenditure authority. A renewal proposal was in public comment (Feb-Mar 2026) as of this update.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get California's Free Medicaid Fee Schedule
Request actual California Medicaid reimbursement rates by billing code — free, delivered as a CSV.
Sources
- KFF State Health Facts - Total Monthly Medicaid & CHIP Enrollment
- CMS - Medicaid Managed Care Enrollment and Program Characteristics, 2024
- Federal Register / GPO - Federal Financial Participation in State Assistance Expenditures, FFY2026 FMAP Notice (2024-27910)
- KFF State Health Facts - Federal Matching Rate (FMAP) for Medicaid
- KFF - Status of State Action on the Medicaid Expansion Decision
- healthinsurance.org - Medicaid eligibility and enrollment in California
- MACPAC - MACStats Medicaid and CHIP Data Book, Exhibit 29 (Percentage of Medicaid Enrollees in Managed Care by State, July 1, 2022)
- CMS - Press Release / GovDelivery Bulletin: CMS Announces Extensions to CalAIM to Support Greater Health Equity
- California DHCS - CalAIM Section 1115 Approval Letter and Special Terms and Conditions
Data last verified 2026-09-17. Also see our free Medicaid Fee Schedule tool.