ELECTION 2012 - Medicaid

"What's at Stake in the Candidates' Different Visions for Medicaid" PBS Newshour 10/1/2012

Excerpt

SUMMARY: The firestorm over how to make Medicare more sustainable has consumed the health care debate this election season, but Medicaid, its counterpart for low-income, disabled and elderly Americans, actually covers more people. Hari Sreenivasan looks at how the candidates' two drastically different proposals offer reform.

HARI SREENIVASAN (Newshour): When many Americans think of costly government programs, they often think of Medicare. But Medicaid, the nation's health insurance for low-income Americans, actually covers more people. It covers children, the disabled and the elderly.

Here's how Matt Salo, who heads the National Association of Medicaid Directors, explains it.