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.