Co-authored by Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, Center for Law and Social Policy, National Association for the Education of Young Children, and National Association for Family Child Care

[Editor’s Note: Last Updated July 22, 2026]

Medicaid is an important source of health coverage for the early childhood education professionals who support child development and care for children while parents work, and for the children and families these educators serve. Twelve states cover a third or more of the child care workforce through Medicaid, making the program an essential part of ensuring the health and well-being of child care professionals. In turn, a healthy early childhood workforce can most effectively support the positive development of children in their earliest years. Threats to Medicaid coverage for early childhood educators would likely further deepen a child care crisis driven in large part by inadequate compensation for this critical workforce. To address the root of this problem, the child care workforce needs higher wages and access to quality benefits which requires significant, robust, and sustainable public investments. Until this core problem is addressed, many workers necessarily rely on Medicaid and SNAP.

Read the report on the Georgetown Center for Children and Families’ website here.