Medicaid Variations In The United States
...(mostly uninsured) begun in the mid-60’s. It was authorized under the Title XIX of the Social Security Act. Medicaid is administered by each state, although it is partly funded by the U.S. Centers for the Medicare and Medicaid Services. In the Medicaid program, no two states Medicaid programs are the same, although there are certain federally set standards common to all Medicaid programs across the nation. In order to receive federal funds, each state has to provide a certain set of services and cover certain individuals. Otherwise states have other services and eligibility requirements that might be covered; in fact, some states have extended their eligibility to additional groups that are not eligible for federal financial participation.
Medicaid programs covered 34 million low-income people in 1994, a total program spending amounted to almost $140 billion, spilt between state and federal sources. Children and adults in families with children together account for about three-quarters of the Medicaid population, with elderly and disabled person making up the remaining quarter. According to the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic and social policy research organization, speaks about the differences between the regard to coverage and benefits in both acute and long-term care. In which it explains that the acute care spending per beneficiary depends on the composition of beneficiaries, the scope of a state’s coverage of mandatory and optional benefits, the cost of health care in the state, and its provider payment policies. It also states that long-term care spending depends on the number of elderly and disable people in need of long-term care services, the state’s willingness to meet this need through population and benefit coverage, and its policies toward payment rates and utilization.
Since Medicaid is a means-tested program, it is seen as...
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