Medicaid and Medicare are very different programs.

Medicare is a federal program attached to Social Security and is available to all U.S. citizens sixty-five years of age or older.

It also covers people with certain disabilities and is available regardless of income.

Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that helps low-income individuals and families pay for the costs of medical and long-term custodial care.

Medicaid has strict eligibility requirements and income restrictions.
Some other differences are that Medicaid is for people with low income and also children under the age of nineteen.

It also covers pregnant women, people sixty-five and over, those who are blind and/or disabled, and people who need nursing home care.

Medicare is for people who are sixty-five and over and also people of any age who have kidney failure or long term kidney disease and those who are permanently disabled.

The Application for Medicaid is done through your State's Medicaid agency.

Medicare is applied for at your local Social Security office.

For people who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare, called 'dual eligibility', Medicaid may help pay for Medicare premiums.

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