Two government-sponsored healthcare programs in the United States of America are Medicaid and Medicare. Both programs differ in several ways, but both help individuals in need of medical assistance when financial means are not there to pay for health care necessities when needed. Depending on your age and current financial situation, you may qualify for one or both of these programs, but to help determine if you do, let us go over the differences between the two programs.

What is Medicaid Insurance? 

Medicaid is a program designed to assist low-to-no-income families with medical coverage when necessary. This program mainly helps children than adults, but does provide assistance too women pregnant with poor income sources. Some of the medical services Medicaid provides and helps pay for are:

• Routine Checkup
• Emergency Care
• Family Planning
• Hospice Services
• Substance Cessation Care
• Dental Care
• Vision Care
• Gynecology Care

What is Medicare Insurance?

Medicare is a program that primarily covers senior citizens over the age of 65, but they do provide medical coverage to the disable who quality for social security benefits and people suffering for end-stage renal disease. The great thing about this medical insurance sponsored by the government is the provide health care to anyone regardless of the amount of income they make just as long as they worked in the workforce and paid into Medicare and social security funds. The medical services this health care program provides and helps pay for are:

• Routine Checkups
• Emergency Care
• Hospice Services
• Family Planning Care
• Substance Cessation Care
• Dental Care
• Vision Care
• Gynecology Care

However, Medicare is not always free. For example, those who quality for Part A Medicare Coverage for pay Medicare taxes for more than 10 years pay nothing. Those who qualify for Part B pay around $104.00 per month and those who qualify for Part D usually only pay around $30 per month, but it all depends on how much social security was paid in during working years along with Medicare taxes.

How do you qualify for Both Programs?

In order to qualify for both programs you must have paid into social security and Medicare for 10 years and must have a low-to-no-income situation. To find out if you qualify, visit your local health and human service center and fill out the applications with a social worker. After, the application is reviewed and an appropriate decision is made based on the information you provide.