Medicaid faces significant policy and funding changes that could affect access to primary care, raising questions about the stability of the clinician workforce serving Medicaid enrollees. However, fluctuations in Medicaid participation may reflect changes in patient enrollment rather than frequent decisions by clinicians to enter or leave the program. Understanding how primary care clinicians maintain relationships with Medicaid patients over time is critical for evaluating the resilience of the Medicaid safety net.

This article examines how primary care clinicians’ Medicaid participation changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and assesses whether clinicians with larger Medicaid patient panels demonstrated more stable engagement with the program.