The Medicaid formula narrows the average difference in states funding ability by 20 percent but often widens the gap between individual states and the national average. Although the receipt of federal matching aid moves 30 states closer to the national average, making the average difference in funding ability smaller, it also moves 21 states farther away from the average, widening the average difference. These 21 states include 3 that are among the states with the largest populations in poverty California, Florida, and New York. After federal matching aid is added, states funding ability ranges from 26 percent below the national average for two states to 179 percent above for another. Because of the formulas current structure, in many instances, two states devoting similar proportions of their own resources to Medicaid can spend very different amounts per person in poverty.