State Budget Actions in Response to COVID-19 and the Impact on State Health Programs

This commentary provides an overview of how COVID-19 is affecting state budgets and state health programs.

Given that health care programs make up a significant portion of state budgets, those programs are likely to be in the crosshairs as states meet their constitutional and statutory obligations to balance their budgets. This is particularly true for Medicaid, which accounts for 19.7 percent of state general fund spending.