How does Medicaid affect people?
Asked by: Sarah Kemmer | Last update: October 7, 2025Score: 4.3/5 (47 votes)
How does Medicaid impact society?
Having health insurance through Medicaid helps Americans stay healthy, go to work, care for their families and pay their bills. The Medicaid program also helps communities, hospitals, schools, and economy thrive.
What is the main problem with Medicaid?
But it has been difficult to launch and sustain managed care under Medicaid: Program design has been complicated and time-consuming, and administrative costs are higher, at least in the initial stages (Freund et. al., 1989; Spitz and Abramson, 1987). The Federal waiver process has been cumbersome for many States.
How does Medicaid benefit people?
Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that helps cover medical costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, like nursing home care and personal care services. The rules around who's eligible for Medicaid are different in each state.
What is Medicaid impact?
Research has overwhelmingly established that Medicaid expansion increased health care coverage, access, and utilization among low-income Americans. Evidence on health outcomes is sparser, reflecting the complex relationship between health insurance coverage and health outcomes.
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Why are people against Medicaid?
Conservatives view Medicaid as “just another welfare program,” this time hiding in health care clothes. Their view is that welfare programs, including Medicaid, have caused more harm than good by promoting dependency and using taxpayer dollars unwisely.
Is Medicaid good or bad?
Few enrollees across racial and ethnic groups report their Medicaid coverage as fair or poor, with a large share of White Medicaid enrollees describing their insurance as excellent. Across all racial and ethnic groups, 80% or more of enrollees rate their Medicaid positively.
Who benefited from Medicaid?
Medicaid has evolved from a program primarily covering parents and dependent children receiving cash assistance with incomes well below the Federal Poverty Level to a program that extends eligibility to nearly every child and non-elderly adult in 40 states and the District of Columbia with incomes up to 138 percent or ...
How did Medicare and Medicaid help people?
Medicare provided health insurance to Americans age 65 or over and, eventually, to people with disabilities. For its part, Medicaid provided Federal matching funds so States could provide additional health insurance to many low-income elderly and people with disabilities.
How does Medicaid impact health care spending?
Medicaid accounts for one-sixth of health care spending (and half of spending for long-term services and supports) and a large share of state budgets. Medicaid is jointly financed by states and the federal government, but administered by states within broad federal rules.
What does Medicaid not cover?
Though Medicaid covers a wide range of services, there are limitations on certain types of care, such as infertility treatments, elective abortions, and some types of alternative medicine. For example, the federal government lists family planning as a mandatory service benefit, but states interpret this differently.
Why do most places not accept Medicaid?
One reason is that reimbursement rates for Medicaid are lower than for Medicare or commercial insurance. Another (often overlooked) factor, however, is physician's risk of payment denials and the administrative hassle they face trying to get reimbursed by Medicaid.
Can you be too poor for Medicaid?
Eligibility for children was extended to at least 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL) in every state (most states cover children to higher income levels), and states were given the option to extend eligibility to adults with income at or below 133% of the FPL.
How does Medicaid affect families?
Greater access to Medicaid for low- and middle-income families may reduce the amount these families spend on out-of-pocket medical expenses, private insurance premiums, expensive copayments, or other directly purchased services.
How did Medicare impact society?
Medicare's successes over the past 35 years include doubling the number of persons age 65 or over with health insurance, increasing access to mainstream health care services, and substantially reducing the financial burdens faced by older Americans.
How many people are affected by Medicaid?
79,308,002 people were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP in the 50 states and the District of Columbia that reported enrollment data for October 2024. 72,058,701 people were enrolled in Medicaid. 7,249,301 people were enrolled in CHIP.
How did Medicaid impact society?
Medicaid coverage was responsible for significant increases in preventive health care, including mammograms, cholesterol screening, and Pap smears, improvements in self-reported general health, quality of life, and reductions in depression.
How does Medicare benefit people?
Medicare Part B (medical insurance) helps cover medically necessary doctors' services, outpatient care, home health services, durable medical equipment, mental health services, limited outpatient prescription drugs, and other medical services. Part B also covers many preventative services.
What happens if you make too much money while on Medicaid?
If you're over the Medicaid income limit, some states let you spend down extra income or place it in a trust to help you qualify for Medicaid. If you receive long-term care but your spouse doesn't, Medicaid will allow your spouse to keep enough income to avoid living in poverty.
What are the downsides of Medicaid?
Disadvantages of Medicaid
One of the primary reasons for this is that Medicaid reimbursements are lower than those of commercial insurers for most procedures and treatments.
Why is Medicaid successful?
A large body of research shows that Medicaid beneficiaries have substantially better access to care than people who are uninsured (who are also primarily low-income) and are less likely to postpone or go without needed care due to cost.
Who did Medicaid help?
Medicaid was initially formulated as a medical care extension of federally funded programs providing cash income assistance for the poor, with an emphasis on dependent children and their mothers, the disabled, and the elderly.
Who is benefited by Medicaid?
Medicaid is the primary program providing comprehensive coverage of health care and long-term services and supports to about 80 million low-income people in the United States.
Why do most doctors not accept Medicaid?
That's because Medicaid physician payment rates have historically been well below those of Medicare or private insurance rates. This fee discrepancy has contributed to many physicians' reluctance to accept new Medicaid patients, which has left them clustered in a subset of practices.
How does Medicaid improve health?
The ability to gain Medicaid coverage can mean a greater likelihood that cancer will be detected and treated early. NHELP also points out that the Medicaid expansion can help women of color gain access to necessary preventive services, such as screening for diabetes, obesity and depression.