1. Medicaid is the nation’s public health insurance program for people with low income Medicaid is the nation’s public health insurance program for people with low income. The Medicaid program covers 1 in 5 low-income Americans, including many with complex and costly needs for care. The program is the principal source of long-term care coverage for Americans. The vast majority of Medicaid enrollees lack access to other affordable health insurance. Medicaid covers a broad array of health services and limits enrollee out-of-pocket costs. Medicaid finances nearly a fifth of all personal health care spending in the U.S., providing significant financing for hospitals, community health centers, physicians, nursing homes, and jobs in the health care sector. Title XIX of the Social Security Act and a large body of federal regulations govern the program, defining federal Medicaid requirements and state options and authorities. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for implementing Medicaid. 2. Medicaid is structured as a federal-state partnership Subject to federal standards, states administer Medicaid programs and have flexibility to determine covered populations, covered services, health care delivery models, and methods for paying physicians and hospitals. States can also obtain Section 1115 waivers to test and implement approaches that differ from what is required by federal statute but that the Secretary of HHS determines advance program objectives. Because of this flexibility, there is significant variation across state Medicaid programs. The Medicaid entitlement is based on two guarantees: first, all Americans who meet Medicaid eligibility requirements are guaranteed coverage, and second, states are guaranteed federal matching dollars without a cap for qualified services provided to eligible enrollees. The match rate for most Medicaid enrollees is determined by a formula in the law that provides a match of at least 50% and provides a higher federal match rate for poorer states. 3. Medicaid coverage has evolved over time Under the original 1965 Medicaid law, Medicaid eligibility was tied to cash assistance (either Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) starting in 1972) for parents, children and the poor aged, blind and people with disabilites. States could opt to provide coverage at income levels above cash assistance. Over time, Congress expanded federal minimum requirements and provided new coverage options for states especially for children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. Congress also required Medicaid to help pay for premiums and cost-sharing for low-income Medicare beneficiaries and allowed states to offer an option to “buy-in” to Medicaid for working individuals with disabilities. Other coverage milestones included severing the link. Medicaid eligibility and welfare in 1996 and enacting the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997 to cover low-income children above the cut-off for Medicaid with an enhanced federal match rate. Following these policy changes, for the first time states conducted outreach campaigns and simplified enrollment procedures to enroll eligible children in both Medicaid and CHIP. Expansions in Medicaid coverage of children marked the beginning of later reforms that recast Medicaid as an income-based health coverage program. 4. Medicaid covers 1 in 5 Americans and serves diverse populations Medicaid provides health and long-term care for millions of America’s poorest and most vulnerable people, acting as a high risk pool for the private insurance market. In FY 2017, Medicaid covered over 75 million low-income Americans. As of February 2019, 37 states have adopted the Medicaid expansion. Data as of FY 2017 (when fewer states had adopted the expansion) show that 12.6 million were newly eligible in the expansion group. Children account for more than four in ten (43%) of all Medicaid enrollees, and the elderly and people with disabilities account for about one in four enrollees. Medicaid plays an especially critical role for certain populations covering: nearly half of all births in the typical state; 83% of poor children; 48% of children with special health care needs and 45% of nonelderly adults with disabilities (such as physical disabilities, developmental disabilities such as autism, traumatic brain injury, serious mental illness, and Alzheimer’s disease); and more than six in ten nursing home residents. States can opt to provide Medicaid for children with significant disabilities in higher-income families to fill gaps in private health insurance and limit out-of-pocket financial burden. Medicaid also assists nearly 1 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries with their Medicare premiums and cost-sharing and provides many of them with benefits not covered by Medicare, especially long-term care
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18/7/2019 08:58:36 pm
Informative article about Medicaid..Medicaid covers a broad array of health services and limits enrollee out-of-pocket costs.
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