If you qualify for both, you can have Medicare and Medicaid coverage. Learn how these two types of coverage work.

What is Medicaid?

Medicaid is a federal and state program that provides health coverage for certain people with limited income and assets. Each state runs different Medicaid-funded programs for different groups of people, including:

• Older adults
• Disabled people
• Children
• Pregnant people

All states have Medicaid programs for people with limited incomes and assets who need nursing home care, long-term care services, and home health care services. Some states also have programs for people who don’t fit any of these categories.

 

Who qualifies for Medicaid?

Your income and assets must be below a certain amount to qualify. This amount varies from state to state and program to program. You are eligible for Medicaid if you fall into an eligible group and meet that group’s financial eligibility requirements.

Some states offer a Medicaid spend-down program. This is for people with incomes over their state’s eligibility requirements. A spend-down program allows you to deduct your medical expenses from your income so that you can qualify for Medicaid.

 

How does Medicare work with Medicaid?

If you qualify for a Medicaid program, it may help pay for costs and services that Medicare does not cover. Here are a few examples of how Medicaid can work with Medicare:

• Medicaid can provide secondary insurance. This means that Medicare would pay for your care first, and then Medicaid may cover any remaining costs like coinsurances and copays.
• Medicaid can help pay your premiums. In most cases, if you have both Medicare and Medicaid, you don’t owe a premium for your Medicare.
• Medicaid can help lower the costs of your prescriptions. People with both Medicaid and Medicare are enrolled in Extra Help automatically. This program helps with prescription drug costs.

 

How can I apply for Medicaid?

Learn more about Medicaid in your state through your local Medicaid office. Your local office can tell you how to submit an application and what documents and forms of identification you may need in order to apply. It can also give you information on the different programs in your state and the eligibility requirements for each. Note that your Medicaid office may be called the Department of Health, the Department of Social Services, or go by another name.