How is Medicare different from Medicaid?

  These are both health insurance programs which actually have almost the same functions but they have a slight difference when you observe them closely. Medicare is a state-aided health insurance program that is available for people who are 65 years and above and also for anyone who is disabled. When it comes to Medicaid, we can say it is also government-aided health insurance for the citizen of the United States of America who has a relatively low income to help them get quality medical care. The difference between these two programs can be seen in terms of;

1. Eligibility

This is about who is qualified to access the services provided by a specific program. For Medicare, to be eligible you must either be 65 years and above or be disabled or have a specific disease. For the Medicaid to be eligible, it depends on your income level, if it is below a certain amount depending on which state you live in then you become eligible for the program. There is a possibility too that you can qualify for both programs if you meet the set conditions because it is possible for instance if you are disabled and your income is low too, it means that you can be in both insurance programs.

2. Plans

There is a difference when it comes to plans, for Medicare you cannot cover many people like a family, its plans lack the family cover, this means your family cannot be included in the cover, so if you have one, you have either opt for another program or cover yourself only. On the other hand, Medicaid has a family cover so you won’t have a problem with the coverage of your family. However, Medicare has very many plans a person can choose from as long as they suit their requirements.

3. Enrollment

There is a big difference when it comes to enrolment in these programs. In Medicare there is an open enrollment period which is opened once a year for three months to do all the transaction, this really need s good timing because once you miss, you will have to wait again for another year to get enrolled and you can be fined too if you take long to register after you hit 65 years of age. For the Medicaid there is nothing like open enrollment, here you can sign up anytime when you are ready to do so as long as you are eligible to enroll.

4. Choices

When it comes to the choices or options in these programs, you will realize that Medicare has a wide range of choices from the plans it has to different premiums, so a person gets to chose just form the plans what suits them, these means there are more advantages and benefits you get to enjoy using Medicare plans, you can maneuver through the premium and find which ones are suitable for your pocket. On the other hand, Medicaid has very few choices you can pick from and doesn’t really give you a lot of freedom to choose what you want.

5. Availability

When it comes to availability there are differences in these two programs. The Medicare program is quite available not even just in the United States of America but it us found in other 50 countries more, this gives you no problem when you have to travel to a different country because you can still access Medicare services from there just as long as you are a registered member of Medicare. For Medicaid, it is only situated and operates in the United States of America hence it can be difficult to access the services when you travel to another country.

In conclusion, both of these programs carry out the same function of insuring citizens get a quality health care, but they work quite differently, they serve different categories of people who become eligible either according to age, specific illness, financial status or according to disabilities. However, with the coming of Medicare supplement plans for 2020, things can change up a little.