Medicaid can be defined as a medical insurance organization that covers the medical needs for the eligible persons in the United States. The eligible people should be the needy who cannot afford medical services. Those who require private health services can also be eligible to the insurance. It covers the hospital bills of its members and makes sure they get the right services. The people mostly get low incomes. Nowadays, not all people who earn little income get the Medicaid services. Adults with no children cannot be covered with the insurance, and they do not have coverage from other services.
The insurance funds most safety-net providers. The safety-net providers can be the community hospitals in rural areas that mainly take care of the elderly and the poor people. The insurance also covers the disabled beneficiaries and for patients who require long term services.
To be a member of the insurance coverage can be an option. It has not been proved to be compulsory. The states that agree to participate in the insurance must make sure they acquire the minimum federal standards. Only when these minimum federal standards are achieved the states will get federal matching funds. The member states have ways to determine the people who are covered; they know how to perform the services and payments to the people providing the services. The American recovery and reinvestment act (ARRA), and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have increased flexibility of the coverage. They increased federal minimum levels for the pregnant women and children. Financing the Medicaid insurance is usually shared between the federal governments and the states. The federal governments cover the largest amount of financing Medicaid across most states. Medicaid can be considered an important aspect in the budget discussions. Medicaid can be called a federal-state partnership since the finances are shared by both the federal government and the states.
In 2008, the total federal and state Medicaid spending on services amounted to $339 billion approximately. The largest percent (60%), could be said to be attributable to acute care and more than 34% attributable to long term care. The rest could be attributable to administrative costs.
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