The Department of Human Services is focused on improving access to health care in Pennsylvania while reducing Medicaid spending. DHS has begun to reward health care providers for the quality of their care, focus on preventive screenings, and work to limit costly and sometimes unnecessary services, such as an overuse of emergency rooms.

When Governor Tom Wolf expanded Medicaid in 2015, more Pennsylvanians than ever were able to access quality health care coverage. The expansion opened up Medicaid to even more people living on low incomes, people who had been diagnosed with substance use disorder, and others.