Under the Affordable Care Act, states can expand Medicaid eligibility to all non-elderly adults with incomes below 138 FPL; this includes many currently uninsured military veterans. To maximize the number of uninsured who gain coverage in 2014 and limit state costs for the newly eligible after 2016, states can explore opportunities to match residents with other sources of coverage for which they may be eligible. Military veterans, 12 million of whom are currently uninsured, are one segment of the population for whom high-quality health care coverage already exists.

This brief, made possible by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, explores issues of eligibility, overlap, and access to health care through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Medicaid. It offers states important factors to consider in determining how to best cover uninsured veterans.