Medicaid

rdf:langString Medicaid

rdf:langString Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and personal care services. The main difference between the two programs is that Medicaid covers healthcare costs for people with low incomes while Medicare provides health coverage for the elderly. There are also dual health plans for people who have both Medicaid and Medicare. The Health Insurance Association of America describes Medicaid as "a government insurance program for persons of all ages whose income and resources are insufficient to pay for health care." Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with low income in the United States, providing free health insurance to 74 million low-income and disabled people (23% of Americans) as of 2017, as well as paying for half of all U.S. births in 2019. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments and managed by the states, with each state currently having broad leeway to determine who is eligible for its implementation of the program. As of 2017, the total annual cost of Medicaid was just over $600 billion, of which the federal government contributed $375 billion and states an additional $230 billion. States are not required to participate in the program, although all have since 1982. In general, Medicaid recipients must be U.S. citizens or qualified non-citizens, and may include low-income adults, their children, and people with certain disabilities. Along with Medicare, Tricare, and ChampVA, Medicaid is one of the four government sponsored medical insurance programs in the United States. Medicaid, along with Medicare, are administered by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in Baltimore, Maryland. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, or simply ACA) significantly expanded both eligibility for and federal funding of Medicaid. Under the law, all U.S. citizens and qualified non-citizens with income up to 138% of the federal poverty line, including adults without dependent children, qualified for coverage in any state that participated in the Medicaid program. However, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius that states do not have to agree to this expansion in order to continue to receive previously established levels of Medicaid funding, and some states have chosen to continue with pre-ACA funding levels and eligibility standards. Research shows that Medicaid improves health outcomes, health insurance coverage, access to health care, recipients' financial security, and provides economic benefits to states and health providers.