Medicaid and Long Term Care

Medicaid was established as Title IX of the 1965 Amendment to the Social Security Act while Medicare was established at the same time as Title VIII of the Act. Medicaid is a health insurance program for certain low-income people. These include: certain low-income families with children; aged, blind, or disabled people on Supplemental Security Income; certain low-income pregnant women and children; and people who have very high medical bills.

Medicaid is funded and administered through a state-federal partnership. Although there are broad federal requirements for Medicaid, states have a wide degree of flexibility to design their program. States have authority to establish eligibility standards, determine what benefits and services to cover, and set payment rates. All states, however, must cover these basic services: inpatient and outpatient hospital services, laboratory and X-ray services, skilled nursing and home health services, doctor’s services, family planning, and periodic health checkups, diagnosis and treatment for children.

Long-term care recipients of Medicaid come almost exclusively from the aged, blind and disabled group of eligible beneficiaries but very few of those are actually receiving SSI . . . .(24 pages printed)

>>Click here to go to the rest of this article>>