What is the difference between medicare and medicade?

Question

Please be specific.

Answer 1

The thing to know about Medicare is that this program is insurance for acute illnesses of older Americans and certain disabled younger Americans. If you are enrolled in Medicare Parts A and Part B, bills pertaining to procedures that are deemed "medically necessary" will be paid for because it is insurance.

"Medically necessary" is the most important Medicare term. Medicare will not pay for any procedure or care that is not deemed as necessary for the recovery or rehabilitation of a patient. A lot of people think Medicare will pay
for one's nursing home. Yes, Medicare will pay for limited days of nursing home care that is "medically necessary" after, say, a hip replacement or after a hospitalization for some other health episode. But, if the doctor determines that there will be no further recovery for a person--say someone who just has suffered a stroke and is as good as they are going to every be physically, well, Medicare benefits basically end. Again, Medicare is insurance primarily for acute illnesses--it was not designed to pay for the costs of day-to-day custodial care--services people need to stay healthy like bathing, feeding, toileting, etc.

Many--and I do mean a whole lot of people I know-- get Medicare confused with Medicaid. Medicaid is a health insurance program for the poor or "medically indigent." Medicaid is only available to folks who meet rigorous financial guidelines. If one qualifies for Medicaid--and folks at the state level determine this--then costs of the nursing home stay will be paid. Of course, someone pays this cost, because nursing homes have to pay their bills--and that someone is the taxpayers. The costs for nursing home stays are shared by the state government and by the federal government.

There is a lot more to know about Medicare and about Medicaid. You can get information from the CMS website, I'm sure, but my experience is that a lot of the information there is written by bureaucrats--it's often difficult for the average person to decipher. You might consider calling your local area agency on aging. If you live in the United States or one of the territories, there is one serving
your area. You can call toll-free 1-800-677-1116 to find out the one serving you. Each area agency on aging has professionals available to answer questions like this one. You will most likely find the people there friendly and very helpful.

If you do contact your local area agency on aging and like the help that they give you, let your local county officials and your folks in Congress know. Area agencies on aging don't have big budgets for advertising and certainly don't have budgets that support campaign contributions!

Hope this helps! Best wishes!

Answer 2

Medicare is a federal healthcare program. Medicaid is state-run, so the money going into Medicaid is administered by the states.

Answer 3

r and d phronically