Many American voters think Medicaid is only for low-income adults and their children — for people who aren’t “like them.” But Medicaid is not “somebody else’s” insurance. Medicaid is our nation’s largest safety net for low-income people, accounting for one-sixth of all health care spending in the United States. Indeed, Medicaid pays nearly half of nursing home costs for those who need assistance because of medical conditions like Alzheimer’s or stroke. In some states, overall spending on older and disabled adults amounts to as much as three-quarters of Medicaid spending. Older and disabled Medicaid beneficiaries can’t pay out of pocket for services and they do not typically have family members able to care for them.

Source: New York Times June 13, 2017 07:18 UTC