Medicaid is the US health insurance program for persons and families with little incomes and resources. It is equally funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states. Among the groups of people served by Medicaid are qualified low-income parents, children, seniors, and people with disabilities. Medicaid is the biggest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with partial income.

Although their names are alike, Medicaid and Medicare are extremely different programs. Medicare is a right program funded entirely at the federal level, while Medicaid is a social interests program with both state and national funding. One criterion for Medicaid eligibility is being insolvent under the program's guidelines -this plays no deliberation in determining Medicare coverage.

While Medicaid and Medicare wrap similar groups, there are significant differences between them. For example, Medicaid covers a wider range of health care services than Medicare. In 2001, about 6.5 million Americans were enrolled in mutually Medicare and Medicaid, also known as Medicare dual qualified.

Medicaid is a combined federal-state program that provides health insurance treatment to low-income children, seniors and people with disabilities. While Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services set out the major rules under which Medicaid operates, every state runs its own program. As a consequence, the eligibility rules are somewhat dissimilar in every state, although the framework is the same all over the country.

Both the centralized government and most state governments have made numerous changes to the eligibility requirements and limitations over the years. This has most lately occurred with the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 which appreciably changed rules governing the treatment of asset transfers and homes of nursing home residents. The completion of these changes will precede state-by-state over the next few years. To be sure of your rights under the Act you should ask an expert, as the rules are complex. The DRA now requires that anyone seeking Medicaid must make documents to prove that they are a United States citizen or resident alien.