To assess Medicaids importance in improving access to care, in this brief we compare health care access of Medicaid beneficiaries to that of the low-income uninsured population. We focus on low-income parents, the group most likely to be affected by the many recent Medicaid changes. We compare the two groups for the nation as a whole, as well as for selected states. While previous research has documented the significant role Medicaid plays in providing access at the national level, only very limited work has examined how the program performs at the state level.