Medicaid and Medicare have similar benefits, but different target audiences and structures.

Medicaid targets those who are in desperate need for medical care. Medicaid is a social welfare program. Medicaid provides relief for pregnant mothers, people disabled, chronically disabled adults, mentally ill people and has slightly different rules based on one’s state. It’s generally for people in poor health due to poverty whether than age, even though a small group of seniors receive Medicaid, but those seniors tend to be ones struggling with high medicine costs and with little assets.

Medicare almost always is for those over 65. Medicare is a single-payer health care system and is controlled by the federal government. It ensures medical coverage for the older members of the population. The very first person to qualify for Medicare was President Harry Truman when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law. If one is a citizen of the United States for five years or more and meets the age criteria, one will be eligible for Medicare. Medicare covers both hospital insurance and medical insurance. If one is under 65 and gets Medicare, it’s because that person receives Social Security or Railroad Retirement Benefits for 24 months or are on dialysis or eligible for Social Security Disability insurance and suffer from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Thank goodness these systems are in place to ensure Americans quality health care.

With the economy the way it is, we all could use a little help finding affordable health care. Here are 10 ways to help you with finding affordable health care.

1. COBRA. First, it is best to start with the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). If you’re unemployed you may be eligible to continue your last employers’ health insurance through COBRA. This also applies to young adults going off to college, you also may be able to continue on your parents health insurance coverage through COBRA. This is a very good option for people who may have lost their job and are still undergoing medical treatments.

2. Workers’ Compensation. If you are being treated for any work related injury, your employer must offer you treatment under their Workers’ Compensation program.

3. Medicaid. Don’t automatically think that since you have a job you won’t qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid will pay health care expenses for low-income families and individuals. Each state sets the eligibility requirements so qualifying for the program is dependent on the state.

4. Medicare. Medicare is provided by the government and administered by the Social Security Administration. If you are sixty-five years old or older you would qualify for Medicare. You may also qualify if you are getting Social Security disability benefits.

5. State High Risk Health Insurance Pool. If you are turned down by individual health insurance companies because of pre-existing conditions, your state may have a high risk health insurance pool you can obtain health insurance from.

6. Individual and Family Health Insurance: This is where you just go to an insurance company and buy individual or family health insurance the same way you would by home or auto insurance. Getting a high deductible “emergency” policy is a better way to maintain a low cost health insurance plan and keeping a Health Savings Account for smaller health issues will probably save you money in the long run.

7. Short Term Health Insurance Coverage: This is a great affordable health insurance option for someone in-between jobs or who knows they will be starting a job soon.

8. Group Insurance from Organization Memberships. Some people are members of specific organizations that offer health insurance coverage.  Although these organizations often do not help pay the health insurance premiums like an employer would, the rates would be lower because of the group discount.

9. Group Health Expenses Sharing Plan. This is not insurance but works similar to it. This is when a group of people pool their money together and pay each others’ health expenses… they pretty much become their own insurance company. The contributions are pooled together and usually invested in order to accrue interest on the pooled funds. It works well when there are a lot of people who contribute and everyone is only using the money for major medical expenses. There are religious groups that use this model successfully.

10. Health Insurance Discount Cards. Again, this is also not an insurance plan but can be a good source for getting low cost health services. You pay a small monthly fee for a membership card and when you go to the doctor or hospital you will get a discounted rate on your services

What is Medicaid ? Medicaid is a federal program designed to ensure medical assistance for people of low income and resources, whether they be dependent children or needy elderly. People with little resources need the social welfare benefits Medicaid provides so they can receive medicine.

But don’t think because one is poor that all poor people qualify for Medicaid or get quality service. Indeed, some 60 percent of poor Americans do not have the program. Medicaid can only cover so many people and with the aging population, the bulk of the coverage goes to nursing home care. Medicaid eligibility standards do vary depending on location. And one has to remember, you don’t buy Medicaid in the way one would buy life insurance, for example.

Medicaid was enacted in 1965 as part of the Social Security Act . It’s different from Medicare in that its focus is mainly poorer people whereas Medicare focuses on the aged, regardless of affluence or poverty. The focus with Medicaid is that it is a social welfare program and Medicare is a social entitlement program. One has to fill out an application for Medicaid. Also Medicaid is different depending on state , whereas Medicare is a federally-structured program.

Florida Medicaid was established to help low-income families with children be ensured of quality medical care . Many families in Florida struggle to pay their bills and if a child were to become sick, without Medicaid, that would put them in the hole.

If a family receives Temporary Cash Assistance, a social welfare program ran at the federal-state government level, it’s possible for them to qualify for Medicaid. Furthermore, if a family has less than $2000 in assets and if countable income is under the limit established for what one would describe a family as “low-income.”

Kids in Florida generally have good access to quality health care if their parents or guardians qualify. The programs will cover surgery, vision care, prescriptions, mental health and more. Thankfully such programs exist for people with limited funds. In Florida, there’s a dedication to ensuring the quality health of the next generation, which is great to see, given its history in past rankings.