What is Medicaid?
Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with medical 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 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.”
How the program works
Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with low income in the United States. It is a means-tested program jointly funded by the state and federal governments and managed by the states, with each state having broad leeway to determine who is eligible for its implementation of the program. States are not required to participate, although all have done so since 1982.
Recipients must be U.S. citizens or qualified non-citizens, and may include low-income adults, their children, and people with certain disabilities. Poverty alone does not necessarily qualify someone for Medicaid.
Where we help
Medicaid interacts with Medicare, with marketplace subsidies and with employer coverage in ways that are genuinely difficult to reason about — particularly for dual-eligible individuals and for families whose income moves during the year.
We will tell you honestly when a Medicaid pathway serves you better than anything we could sell you, and point you to the right state resource.
Talk to us about your options.