Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Differences Based on Experience

With all the recent talk of healthcare reform I thought it would be a good idea to discuss the present forms of healthcare that are run by the government today. Many people do not understand that Medicare and Medicaid are both programs that are run by the government and they have a good amount of differences. Medicare is run by the government and covers seniors in terms of medical coverage and operations that they need for health reasons. Medicaid is the program run by the government and it covers those that are of low income and can't afford to pay for their own health insurance. You can also be on Medicaid if you are on SSI social security disability and you are disabled to the point where you can't provide health insurance for yourself. In these cases the government will provide for you but these have a lot of difference between them. I have personal experience with this subject as I have been on both in the past as has my mother. I am not suggested this take the place of any medical advice but there are differences that I have found with the programs according to an article by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

- Medical caps is one way that Medicare and Medicaid differ and this is important because there is a limit on how much assistance you are allowed to receive under Medicare and this means if you are nearing the cap for the year and you break your arm then you will be responsible for paying the bill and Medicare will pay nothing. However, there are no caps on Medicaid and the bill will be paid without any caps for the year.

-A second difference between Medicare and Medicaid is prescription coverage and what prescriptions are covered under your plan. Medicare will only cover prescriptions that are determined to be vital to your health. If you need a prescription for blood pressure medication then Medicare will cover you. However, if you need acne medication then you will not be covered unless you have Medicaid and this covers prescriptions regardless of if they are topical or not.

- A third difference is co-pays and you will be required to pay a $25 co pay per prescriptions and office visits on Medicare and this is not the case with Medicaid that has no co-pay. Doctor section is limited under Medicare because they determine your doctor but you can choose your doctor under Medicaid. Another difference is existence of specialized care because you will need to get a referral from your doctor in order to see a specialist if you have Medicare but no referral is needed if you have Medicaid coverage.