What’s the Deal with MOE?

The Maintenance of Effort (MOE) provisions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires states to keep the eligibility criteria for their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that they had in place on March 23, 2010, the day the ACA was signed into law. Under MOE, states cannot make it more difficult to enroll in or renew Medicaid or CHIP coverage. For children in Medicaid and CHIP, the MOE provisions are in effect until September 30, 2019. States who violate the MOE provisions risk losing their federal funding match.